Kia Kaha
Monday March 18, 2019
It's hard to articulate what I've been thinking about over the weekend. Much has happened in New Zealand; three days later, the country still grieves for the 50 lives lost in a senseless shooting at two mosques in Christchurch. My heart aches for the loss of these innocent lives in my homeland, especially since the city is still suffering 8 years after a devastating earthquake. I'm angry, I'm shocked and I'm full of sadness, despite being 14,000kms away. Whatever belief there was of safety is gone; we are no longer innocent to violence of this magnitude. The history of the country has changed forever. The road to recovery will take a long time; mental scars may never heal.
Our prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, spoke powerful words.
We were not a target because we are a safe harbour for those who hate. We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we're an enclave for extremism, we were chosen for the very fact that we are none of these things, because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those that share our values, a refuge for those who need it. And those values, I can assure you, will not and cannot be shaken by this attack.
We are a proud nation of more than 200 ethnicities, 160 languages, and amongst that diversity we share common values. And the one that we place currency on right now is our compassion and the support for the community of those directly affected by this tragedy and secondly, the strongest possible condemnation of the ideology of the people that did this.
From this darkness, we can see the true spirit of New Zealand. The outpouring of solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters after the attack, the vigils held in the major city centers, the fundraising pages, the hakas, the placards saying "aroha" and "kia kaha" - it is these images that make me proud to call myself a Kiwi.
I spent the weekend in my friend's cottage in Muskoka. It was good to get out of the city and see the beautiful white landscapes; it's still very much winter up there, despite the temperatures in Toronto rising above 0 degrees. It was a time of self-reflection and a wake-up call on what I should be doing with my life, yet I wonder if I came away with more questions than I went in with.
The past few months have gone by faster than I expected. I felt more alone in last year's winter, but this year I had lots to look forward to and I was more equipped to handle the cold. Instead of fully hibernating for three months, there's been many things to do: I went to the Toronto Light Fest in the Distillery District, we walked around Tommy Thompson Park and learned about the wildlife (and even saw two coyotes!), we chased after some frozen waterfalls in Hamilton and Niagara, and toured a maple syrup farm. I watched the super total lunar eclipse of January 2019, despite it being negative temperatures. There was karaoke and badminton and piano as well.
There has been plenty to eat too, the UbiTO foodie group went to Filipino Kamayan Feast specialist Tinuno, and the badminton crew had three buffets in the space of two weeks. I went for dinners around Chinese New Year and had hot pot and pot luck.
There's lots to look forward to over the next few months as well. I'll be off to the US for a friend's wedding near Atlanta next month. We're planning to go to Quebec City for Canada Day, and to Peru in August. Bruce Peninsula and Tobermory are also on the cards. But by far the most exciting event will be the E3 reveal of our game, and the subsequent release sometime during the year.
Posted by Jeremy at 2:57am on Monday March 18, 2019 :: 0 comments :: 
A New Year
Thursday January 3, 2019
Finally back in Canada after a glorious two week summery excursion in the homeland. It's wet here, in Vancouver, and I'm told it's been snowing in Toronto. Sigh.
The end of last year was busy. We had our final work karaoke on Friday night in Koreatown. It was so epic and full of laughter and good times; there was plenty of Disney, 80s power ballads and 90s cheesy pop, and we even sang Phantom of the Opera - with Emily hitting those amazing notes sung by Christine at the end of the song. So good.
I went to the light exhibition down by Ontario Place as well. It was pretty serene walking around the island, but the art installations were pretty colourful and interesting. It's cool that even in winter when the weather is so cold, there's still some kind of incentive to go outside and see what the city has to offer.
Pokemon Go's long-awaited PVP feature dropped this month, but as expected, it was nothing more than a mind-numbing tap fest with only slightly more strategy than a game of rock-paper-scissors. The rewards can be obtained regardless of winning or losing, the cost to make your Pokemon competitive is extremely high, and there's just no incentive to take that plunge.
The flight to Vancouver and then Auckland was not too bad. I played Smash Bros for most of the time, but then ran out of battery power on my Switch heading to Auckland. It was an overnight flight, so I managed to catch some shut eye, but I also watched Ant Man 2 and Incredibles 2. I arrived in Auckland very early on Thursday morning, and I babysat my nephew for the day.
I'd been starved of decent Malaysian food for so long that my first three meals in New Zealand were Malaysian - Kampung Cafe in Glen Eden, KK in Greenlane and Little Penang in Wellington. I basically took the airport bus from Wellington Airport into town, said hello to my excolleagues at PikPok, dumped my luggage at Mana's house and went straight to Little Penang on the Terrace. Auntie Tee and Uncle Keith even recognised me while I was standing in line, it was so nice to talk to them and tell them how much I missed their food. They even gave me a free teh tarik!
PikPok has changed a lot since I'd left. The company's grown by 40 people in two years, and the kitchen now fits more than two people. It was good to see everyone and see how they were, and catch up on news in my absence. We also went for karaoke!
My two weeks was spent basically absorbing as much Kiwiana as I could. Burgerfuel, L&P, Hells Pizza, mince pies, feijoas, the accent, the sun. I even played badminton! I visited tons of my favourite places in Wellington and Auckland, and I caught up with so many people: old workmates, church friends, family, school friends, University friends. It seemed like everyone had either gotten a mortgage, a dog or a kid in the time I'd been away. Though I may not have messaged many people over the past couple of years, it was easy to slide back into conversation as if nothing had happened, and for that I'm truly thankful. Everyone was keen to hear how my travels were, and about my life and job in Toronto.
The weather was awesome. Even if it was raining in entire time, I would have still had a good time not freezing my face off. Most days it was cloudy, but the sun came through quite often, in that familiar ozone-less burny sensation. I got some great pictures of Wellington's waterfront and Auckland's Waitemata Harbour, and sent them back to some jealous Canadians.
But of course, all good things must come to an end. The flight from Vancouver to Auckland was another night flight, and I slept so much that I almost ran out of time to watch Crazy Rich Asians. I'm not looking forward to the cold months ahead, but I am looking forward to seeing all my Toronto friends again, and telling them about my adventures and how great New Zealand is.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:33pm on Thursday January 3, 2019 :: 0 comments ::
Canadaversary
Tuesday July 31, 2018
Tomorrow marks one year since I landed in Canada to start a new life. It's gone by pretty quickly, but I'm still thoroughly enjoying my job and the city - and especially now that it's summer, it's incredibly exciting to experience all the events and sights that Toronto has to offer. Each weekend has been filled with something to do, something to eat, something to see. I shared 100 oysters for $100 with three others, had All You Can Eat Peking Duck, tried Xinjiang and Teochew cuisines; there was dim sum, office breakfasts, birthday dinners and barbeques in the park. There was karaoke, a hike around the Niagara Falls Whirlpools, Canada Day fireworks by the beach and a road trip to the Blue Mountains, where I drove on the right side of the road for the first time. I caught up with Dionte and we walked around Graffiti Alley. The company had its General Assembly last Friday, where we partied until midnight.
Last weekend I was in Chicago catching up with Loic, Dana and Marc. I went to a baseball game, which went exactly how I thought it would, in true American fashion: the hand on the heart thing for the national anthem, the sloppy greasy food and cheap beer, the whole atmosphere of Wrigley Stadium was just like I had seen on TV or in the movies. It did rain a bit though, and it would persist throughout the time I was in Chicago. We also explored Wicker Park, the area around our AirBnB, and I even snuck in some time to do a few Zapdos raids in Millennium Park. The four of us did a escape room, then watched the fireworks off Navy Pier. Of course, I had the famous deep dish pizza from Pizzeria Uno too - I wouldn't have left the city without it!
My weekends are so packed that the weekdays need to be quiet so I can relax and chill out. But I love it. I need to maximise my time before winter comes.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:26am on Tuesday July 31, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
True Spring
Tuesday April 24, 2018
As we near the end of April, the temperatures have finally hit double digits - consistently. This weekend past marks the first day I have not had to wear my heavy winter jacket to go outside. In fact, it was so pleasant over the weekend that I walked to the Asian supermarket at the Stockyards - about 30 minutes away from my place - and treated myself with a tub of coconut taro ice cream, and pandan ice cream. At badminton yesterday, I was at Trinity Bellwoods Park just after 1pm, and with plenty of time to kill, I watched the dogs frolic in the park and eventually dozed off in the sun. Definitely a warm welcome from the frozen months of winter.
The Canadians tell me this is true spring, and what we experienced last month was False Spring 1 and Winter 2.
Last week was quite the adventure though. A massive ice storm hit the city, causing tree branches to fall on streets, widespread power outages and over 300 reported car accidents over the weekend. It somehow didn't stop me from going for a bloody Ex Raid, then to karaoke with my badminton crew, nor did it stop me from going to church and then to the shopping mall afterwards for Pokemon Go's community day. I also treated myself to my favourite mango and key lime cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, so it was a good weekend despite the snow, ice, slush and liquid water everywhere.
I went to Video Games Live as well, an orchestral concert dedicated to the legacy of video games from the past 35 years. Headed by Tommy Tallarico, we heard songs from Castlevania, Metroid, Mega Man, Uncharted, Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Mario, Okami, Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. We had a guest conductor, Russell Brower, who was the music composer for Blizzard Entertainment, and he led the orchestra as they played music from Overwatch and World of Warcraft: Mists of Panderia. My heart lept for joy when music from Phoenix Wright was played, and I could not help but point my finger triumphantly in homage to my favourite virtual lawyer. The climax of the concert was of course the Pokemon segment, where the orchestra played themes from Pokemon Red and Blue, as well as the Team Rocket theme from the anime. But the final song was by far the greatest moment of the entire night, as Jason Paige, the original singer of the Pokemon Theme song, came onstage and performed it, with the backing of Tommy and the orchestra, and the thousands of fans singing along - I wanna be the very best!
Today, some madman was trying to commit suicide by cop by Yonge and Finch. I was at work while the incident happened, some 15km away, but I do visit that area often if I'm heading to Markham or Richmond Hill with friends. News reports say ten people have been killed, which is super grim. It's an odd sensation seeing familiar landmarks and roads on videos like that.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:19am on Tuesday April 24, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
March
Saturday March 3, 2018
It's been seven months since I arrived in Toronto to start a new life and a new job. It's also some other 32 year anniversary for something, but I won't go into that too much. But it does mean it's spring, kinda. The days are definitely getting longer and we enjoyed double digit temperatures for a few days, but today it plummeted back to 2C and it's begun snowing.
I got horribly sick last week after work karaoke on Chinese New Year. I was visiting some family friends out in Richmond Hill, and after dinner, I began to feel terribly cold, and got muscle aches and a fever. Somehow I still dragged myself to a Chinese New Year dinner with my badminton friends, but I stayed at home for the next four days trying to recover. I got to experience the greatness of the famous Canadian healthcare system too. I'm still not at 100% but I managed to at least go for badminton and attend the Pokemon Community Day last weekend. I also got treated to an amazing seafood dinner with lots of oysters!
Canadian public holidays are really nicely spaced out over the year. In fact, there was a gap in holidays between New Years and Easter, so they made up a provincial holiday in Ontario called Family Day in February. Isn't that great?
Posted by Jeremy at 12:34am on Saturday March 3, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
2018
Tuesday January 9, 2018
The temperature peeked above zero for the first time in a few months. Snow turned to muddy slush on the sidewalks and roads, and it wasn't painful to walk around without gloves. It hasn't been an easy road though, last Friday and Saturday hit -20C with a windchill of -30C. That was tough.
It's a new year. Almost an entire 365 days since I left New Zealand. I had a relaxing week off, staying mostly indoors to shelter from the cold, but I did go into town for karaoke, badminton and a New Year's Eve party. They shot some fireworks off at Nathan Phillips Square, and hordes of people still turned up despite the severe cold warnings. It was a great atmosphere, though my time outdoors was thankfully brief. I ended up going to bed around 5am, it was that good. Later that day, I played board games with some of the badminton crew, and got to play around with some awesome VR games, including a 3D drawing sandbox.
We're back at work too. The first week was quiet, many still away on holiday. My manager has unfortunately fallen ill with pneumonia, which sounds pretty serious, so we won't expect him back until next week. Otherwise I'm just trucking along. Console projects take time, and they're definitely not as fast paced as mobile games. It's sometimes hard to see progress when you're focused on one small portion of the game.
I'm not as homesick as I used to be. I've expanded my social circles and have people to hang out with on weekends. Most importantly, I'm busying myself, because I think too much when I don't have anything to do. Today is particularly significant because it marks 19 years since Mum passed away and I still think about her a lot. She'd probably be pretty shocked to find out where I am and what I'm doing though, but secretly proud that I did what I did.
Posted by Jeremy at 3:24am on Tuesday January 9, 2018 :: 0 comments ::
Winter Christmas
Thursday December 28, 2017
The temperature is now consistently below zero, with snow and slush everywhere on the streets. It's strange looking at it from within my very warm apartment, because it can be sunny yet -15C outside, and quite a shock when I leave the building.
Things got pretty busy for me as the year wrapped up. I attended my first Ubisoft Christmas Party at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, where a band called the Cybertronic Spree entertained us by dressing as Transformers and playing the Pokemon Theme Song. There were circus performers and lots of food and alcohol, and such a great atmosphere to celebrate my first four months with the company.
Ubisoft gave us the Friday before Christmas off. I took the opportunity to run a few errands in the morning - even getting in some time to do some Pokemon Go raiding. I tagged along with Victor in the afternoon, and we hit a few nests around the Junction/High Park area, getting lots of Pokemon in the process. It's horrible to play in such cold temperatures, but not too bad if you have a car to go around. In the afternoon, I headed into town to check out the Christmas Market down in the Distillery District, where it was totally packed with locals and tourists alike. I got some chocolate from the famous chocolatier, SOMA, and then went to Chinatown for hot pot and some games afterwards.
On Saturday, my badminton crew had dinner and karaoke at a restaurant out in Markham. The clientele is mostly Chinese, and as a result, so was the song selection. I let it slip the only Mandarin song I knew was Tong Hua, so I had to sing it. The native speakers seemed quite impressed with my pronunciation and singing ability, despite my inability to speak Mandarin, so I'll call that a win for me.
There were two church services on Christmas Eve, both of which I played piano for. It was quite a challenge, trying to make sure everything was in order musically, but I think the worship team and choir came together quite nicely. I was surprised that it all fell into place and nothing majorly disastrous happened, because I only had a few hours of sleep the night before - I got home late from karaoke, around 1am, and I had troubles sleeping because I was so stressed about waking up early in the morning. A family took me for lunch to Swiss Chalet after the morning service, then dropped me home for a quick nap before I came back for the evening service. Afterwards, I went to a workmate's house for an amazing Christmas Eve dinner with turkey, salads, and a cold pasta dish marinated with a Japanese sweet-and-sour plum vinaigrette.
As I walked home, the snow was falling. It was serene and quiet, everything I had imagined a white winter Christmas to be. It was pretty awesome to see the Christmas lights on peoples' homes illuminate the fresh snow with all sorts of colours, and I can finally appreciate all the winter imagery that's so commonly associated with Christmas.
Another church family had invited me out to their house in Etobicoke for Christmas lunch, so that's where I spent most of my day. I managed to call my parents in Malaysia, and my sister in New Zealand as well, and got to hear from my excited nephews about what presents they got and what they got up to back home. I really do miss them, and I'm looking forward to going back to New Zealand sometime next year to see them, and all my other friends too.
Posted by Jeremy at 2:54am on Thursday December 28, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Granada
Monday May 29, 2017
I've joined a week long tour with a company called Bus About, travelling around southern Spain and even heading to Morocco (which is today!) There's a Brazilian, a few Canadians but mostly Australians. It's nice to finally get some solid social interaction after travelling by myself for so long.
We left Madrid and headed to the medieval town of Toledo, still enclosed in a city wall. There's not much else there; a cathedral, a few buildings and some cafes. We continued to Consuegra, famous for the windmills that inspired Don Quixote, and in the afternoon, we arrived in Granada.
We walked around the city centre a little bit but most of us were tired and just chilled until dinner. We went for a casual tapas where there was too much food and sangria, and then we went up the hill to San Nicolas for some great sights of the city and the Alhambra, a Moorish castle. Nearby was the suburb of Sacromonte, a gypsy area, where we were treated to some Flamenco!
There's something entrancing about Flamenco. The rhythm is so strong and driving, and the way the dancers move their feet is amazing. There's a lot of emotion in the music; it was based on the pain and struggles the gypsies endured when the Catholics took over Spain. Unfortunately many of us were so tired from such a long day (it was almost midnight at this point) that we had begun to nod off slightly! It was entertaining nonetheless, at one point in time, there was a heavy flick of sweat on the closest audience members!
We were up early to head to the Alhambra the next day. It's an incredible building that is pretty well preserved despite the history of the warring Moors and Catholics, and some of the architectural decorations are out of this world. There's so much rich symbolism in the facades and columns and art; they based a lot of their designs around geometrical and mathematical concepts. There's a beautiful symmetry and tessellation to many of the patterns, and a lot of allusions to the number 7, which represents completion or perfection. In total, we spent over three hours walking around, and that was probably the perfect amount of time.
In the afternoon, we went to a traditional hammam - herbal bath - for some relaxation in the water. It was an interesting experience, but probably not something I would do again. I feel like I would have enjoyed a swim in the pool (or the sea if we were near it) more.
After a chaotic dinner, we went for karaoke. I could not contain my excitement. I was over the moon and kept talking throughout the whole day about it. Hopefully I did not disappoint; I got to sing my favourite Let it Go, as well as a few others, but it was a public system and we had to share with the other patrons in the bar, who were all amazing (and all sang in Spanish, naturally.) One guy that was there had even participated on The Voice, and that was a treat to listen to. We had such a good time, singing Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Aerosmith and Whitney Houston, and we finished with the Australian national anthem, John Farnham's You're the Voice. There were so many more songs I wanted to sing but as more patrons started pouring in, the less frequent our songs became, so we left around 1am.
We're on our way to Tarifa to take the ferry over to Tangier, Morocco. I was secretly hoping it would be raining in Morocco so I could bless the rains down in Africa.
Posted by Jeremy at 8:49am on Monday May 29, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Japan
Saturday February 4, 2017
Japan is amazing. It's everything I imagined it to be and more. Everything is so cute! Everything is so orderly! Everything is delicious! The weather has been good so far, sunny and pleasant to walk around in, but a little chilly at night time. It's certainly not shorts weather but it's better than some of the "summer days" that New Zealand got last month.
My Air Asia flight to Haneda was uneventful, but I did win the airplane lottery again and got the whole row to myself. The food was pretty good too! We landed earlier than expected and I made it through customs pretty quickly. I had planned to take a taxi from the airport to my hotel but decided to take the train since it was still operating. I ended up lugging all 30kgs of my life about 15 minutes, but the weather was mild and I got some good exercise. I was dripping with sweat by the time I got to the hotel though.
On Friday, I wandered aimlessly around Shibuya, visiting various shopping malls and enjoying the sights and sounds of the area, when I happened to spot the region exclusive Pokemon, Farfetch'd, on my nearby list. A bit of scurrying around and it appeared right outside the Shibuya Tokyo Rei hotel - and caught!
I was so lost in time that I didn't get to have lunch. I hurried off to the Ghibli Museum out near Kichijoji and was greeted by Totoro at the entrance. The guidelines say to wander freely with no set path, discover the many and beautiful things hidden inside. Truly the whimsy and wonder of the many worlds of Ghibli have been captured here. There is unfortunately no photography allowed inside so I must rely on my memory to revisit the many exhibits and displays of art all over the building. There's a showcasing of the "beginning of movement", and they're playing this beautiful piano piece from one of the films, and it's such an emotional song. I spent about an hour wandering around, and I'm getting hungry, so I set off to find this French patisserie place that Amy told me about in the opposite direction.
I arrive about 30 minutes later and I am not disappointed. It looks like Louis Sergeant with a few Michelin stars tacked on. I choose two desserts and I'm on my merry way back to the train station, but I spot a park in the sun on the way, so I sit down and devour the things I've bought - a giant hazelnut tower and a yuzu inspired cake.
I'm back at Shibuya at dusk, in time to witness the famous Shibuya crossing, where hundreds of people converge on a single intersection during green lights. I'm hungry still, and getting tired from walking around so much, so I find a ramen bar and play food roulette - I didn't know what to do with the vending machines so I just copied the dude in front of me and ordered what he got. It's delicious. The soup is full of flavour and the noodles are bouncy and soft. The lady next to me however has a massive bowl of pork and egg and I'm getting fomo, but what I have has satisfied me. I'm back at the hotel by 8pm and I pass out for a good 9 hours.
Today I met up with Tak who took me to a sushi train place for lunch. Holy moly. The sushi here is completely different to what you get in New Zealand. The freshness of the seafood is very noticeable, as is the quality of the vinegar in the rice. I'm almost moved to tears, everything is so delicious. The salmon especially is creamy and smooth, the unagi is sweet with a slightly crispiness from the blowtorch. I'm enjoying myself so much, this is a very memorable experience.
We take the train to Harajuku and wander around for a while, visiting the various shopping streets as well as Meiji Shrine and Togo Shrine. We stop by the Cookie Time store and under Raewyn's orders, I sing Let it Go from Disney's Frozen on the karaoke machine and receive a round of applause from the shop, as well as a jafa and hokey pokey cookie for my efforts.
I also visited the owl cafe around the corner. They're so damn fluffy and cute. For 1500 yen you can stay there a whole hour and you get a small drink too. Pretty worth it, in my opinion! As dusk fell, I went to a place called Red Rocks, another of Amy's recommendations, and got a massive stack of sliced beef with a raw egg cracked on top. Delicious again!
I made my way to Shinjuku and wandered the streets, looking at various arcades and bright lights adorning the streets. I bought some thermals from Uniqlo for super cheap as well. I saw the robot restaurant but it looked too busy so I gave it a pass. It was fun just enjoying the busyness of the area at that time, and the atmosphere and vibe.
A half hour later and I'm back at the hotel, nursing my sore feet. What an amazing two days!!
Posted by Jeremy at 1:54pm on Saturday February 4, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Seven Days Remaining: The Final Countdown
Sunday January 15, 2017
I had my farewell party at Southern Cross last Friday, and then a mega Final Karaoke at K Zone afterwards. So many people turned up, it was quite overwhelming! It was great to see everyone, especially those who I hadn't seen in a while. After karaoke, a small group of us went to Sassy Loves Cash for a bit, and it was around 3am that I finally got home. It was amazing. I had so much fun on Friday, and I'm going to miss these people who have been such an important part of my life for the past nine years.
In spite of my lack of sleep, I had my Final Badminton on Saturday morning, then yum cha at Regal. I was off to Wadestown for Andrew and Claire's farewell/engagement party too, and then back home to continue the big decluttering. I managed to fob off a lot of miscellaneous stuff to various people, so thanks for helping me out in that respect!
This morning was my Final Service at Central Baptist, and I had specifically requested to be on the piano to pay tribute to an amazing church that was so warm and welcoming to me those eight years ago. I love that the church continues to be so inviting to people across different life journeys, and that they encourage people to worship in a way that has integrity for themselves. It has been a blast serving on the music team, and I'm so happy I was able to bring a smile to people's faces with my cheeky playing style.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:30am on Sunday January 15, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Serenity
Monday November 21, 2016
It was nice to get back into routine, especially after the earthquakes. Work was only out for a day and the gym was out for two days, but things have pretty much resumed normality. I'm lucky I'm not near any of the condemned or cordoned areas, but the disruption never really hit me until karaoke was in jeopardy. We ended up at New Kor for some soju-riffic fun, singing a lot of old, classic songs from their slightly antiquated song list.
Badminton was also back on, thankfully, or I would have been truly sad. The weather was gloriously sunny on Saturday but I ended up just sleeping in the afternoon and gymming quite late as a result. I spent the evening at Phil and Will's for a bit. On Sunday, I was at church for music, where I played Hallelujah in tribute to Leonard Cohen, who passed away two weeks ago. This did not go unnoticed by the congregation, and lots of people were quick to mention their appreciation after the service - and I'm so glad that I can make people smile like that.
The weather continued to be fine, so Dana, Loic and I went out to Owhiro Bay to see if we could catch the tail end of the Leonids meteor shower. At 10pm, there was still a bit of twilight to the west, but this darkened quickly, bringing out the Milky Way sitting on the horizon. Venus was so bright that you could see its reflection on the water. Overhead, I saw seven meteors streaking across the night sky over the course of the hour we were there. Truly beautiful.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:59am on Monday November 21, 2016 :: 0 comments ::
On The Go
Sunday July 10, 2016
Pokemon Go has hit the App Store in New Zealand and the entire country is going insane. People all over the country are walking, biking and even kayaking almost aimlessly across the city to find Pokemon and claim gyms. Never before has a game like this caused such a phenomenon. It's quite endearing walking through the park and spotting other people "on the Go", with telltale swipes on mobile phones and abrupt stops while walking.
Of course I am all up in this, as are several of my workmates. We've been driving around Wellington, Porirua and Lower Hutt, looking for Pokemon up hills, in parks and by water. There have been some extremely entertaining stories of detecting nearby Pokemon from the car, at which we all either scream excitedly and yell directions for where I should drive, or I park somewhere and we frantically run in four different directions trying to locate the Pokemon in question. The game is full of glitches and the server is constantly unstable. It's incredibly frustrating sometimes. But they've captured the essence of finding and capturing Pokemon pretty damn well, and the IP itself is strong enough to carry the game through these rough patches. I hope they will iron out all the problems and release something more polished.
Things have been pretty busy, as per usual. Doomsday Clicker v1.5 is out on Android, and will soon be on iOS. This update was pretty substantial and introduces "Roomies", experimental characters that are created in your Space Base and sent to Earth to boost the performance of your bunkers and rooms. I even got to do the voices for one of the characters! The next update is going to be technically challenging for me, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do. In short, there's been some epic karaoke for Ramon's last day, hot pot and birthday parties for Phil, Vix and James. The Moustache Milk and Cookie Bus has finally made it to Wellington, and serving up some delicious cookies by Marion St. Winter has been relatively mild and we've enjoyed some brilliant sunny weather, but the days are definitely colder.
It's hard to believe that we're over halfway through the year. Wellington on a Plate starts next month (crikey!)
Posted by Jeremy at 11:50am on Sunday July 10, 2016 :: 0 comments ::
Been a While
Saturday May 28, 2016
Things have been insanely busy, as usual. Where do I even start? So much as happened since the last blog post.
Doomsday Clicker has been performing well, and we managed to hit all our deadlines - but not without some troubles along the way. The v1.3 Android release saw a torrent of negative reviews reporting the game would not boot properly, and since we were lined up for featuring, it was of utmost priority to fix the issues. The Game Sync implementation wasn't as robust as we had initially tested, and pretty much my fault, so we scrambled to build stability around all those systems. Thankfully, things came together in the end, and we secured our featuring on Google Play and the iTunes store. I've had a lot of feedback from friends who have enjoyed the game - especially the amazing and catchy soundtrack.
In honour of its successes, the PikPok 19th birthday party was completely Doomsday Clicker themed, with an amazing volcano cake with Monkey and the Red Button on the top, and three cocktails and two shots bearing the names of some of the doomsdays you can cause in the game. The atmosphere was fantastic and it was good to see heaps of people there. There was arm wrestling - we even managed to convince Mario and Tyrone to go head to head. There was dancing and shenanigans but all in all, I think lots of people had a good time.
There was an exciting thunderstorm a few days ago, lightning illuminating the night sky just after midnight, with some heavy rain accompanying the storm. I would have counted 30 flashes of light in the five minutes I was watching, some strikes being very close to the city itself. Wellington's geography means it doesn't get many thunderstorms, so it's always such a delight to see them - as long as you're indoors and warm.
Mat was down last weekend for some 30th birthday parties. We met up with Tim for his at Spruce Goose, and afterwards Mat went for board games with that crew while I went to Phil and Will's for their flatwarming. They had moved into their new place over Anzac weekend - I helped them shift a lot of their bulky furniture and drove the truck for them. Mana and Vix rocked up with some ingredients for making mulled wine, and what a fun time that was! I didn't realise it was so simple - create your syrup first with a little bit of wine, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, orange peel, lemon peel, and any other spices or fruit you want to throw in. When the syrup is the right consistency, pour the rest of the wine in and let it warm without boiling, or the alcohol will evaporate. Easy!
Strawberry Fare's last day is tomorrow. It is truly the end of an era. They have decided to close their doors while the owners look to focusing more on their other restaurants. The past couple of weeks have seen hundreds of loyal fans trying to get the last desserts, myself and Mat included. They weren't taking any bookings, so I decided that I would try going at 11am on Sunday morning to secure my final Devil's Dream Cake. Sure enough, no one was stupid enough to have dessert for breakfast except for Mat and myself, so we enjoyed our final meal at Strawberry Fare forever. You could say that it was...a bittersweet experience.
At the start of the month, I was in Auckland for Mel and Jarrod's wedding - number four of seven this year. The weather was stunning and the location was picturesque. I was on parking warden duty, so had to be there early, but with my swanky haircut and sharp suit, I was exuding confidence and style as I greeted the guests and directed them down the driveway. The wedding was really nice, given they had only a month to plan it. Everything fell into place and it ran smoothly. The next day was Mother's Day, so we went out for yum cha to Sun World in Newmarket, and then back to my sister's to see my two nephews. They're growing up so fast, especially the little one. He's not as moody as he was the last time I saw him, so it's good to see him being more sociable and having more fun. So cute!
There's been karaoke, Andrew's 30th at Five Boroughs, NZIF shows - Eli Matthewson of Jono and Ben fame, and Taking off the Bird Suit - we had hotpot, Ghibli movie nights, Iron Giant at the Embassy, Formal Friday at work, Dianne's birthday and Vix and Tessa's flatwarming. There's been plenty of Louis Sergeant desserts, lunch at the Crab Shack and a massive seven-tiered rainbow cake for Keir's farewell. I need to remember to blog more often or I'll forget all these memories.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:16pm on Saturday May 28, 2016 :: 0 comments ::
Mooncakes
Sunday October 4, 2015
It's October already. Time has sure flown by this year. There's been plenty to keep me busy and that's probably why things have gone by so quickly. Last weekend was pretty big; we went out for dinner at Pan de Muerto and had some delicious lamb shanks. Uncontent with the amount of food, we went to Enigma for some cake and decided it would be a great night for karaoke. So it happened! Tim, Will, Mana, Hannah, Nicola, Victoria and myself bundled into a little room at K Zone on Wakefield Street and sang to our hearts' content, finishing triumphantly with Let it Go!
On Saturday, I was at the Sprig and Fern for a mini-mooncake celebration and Wei's two year anniversary in Wellington. And of course the next day, I did my regular mooncake festivities and cooked for a big group of people, with the usual menu of fried tofu, roast pork and roast duck. Probably cut it a bit close in terms of the amount of food, but people seemed happy with what they got, so I'll mark it off as a success. It was good to celebrate with friends when I couldn't celebrate with family.
Work has been busy, and we are rapidly approaching a "drop dead submission date" of October 9th. There's still a bit of work to do, but I think we can make it. It'll be tight though, naturally, as all things usually are. Hopefully when this is done, I can let people know what ~secret things~ I've been working on.
Posted by Jeremy at 6:49am on Sunday October 4, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
Winter
Wednesday July 8, 2015
Winter is definitely here, with a sharp cold front hitting the country and plummeting the temperatures to 3.1C. Thanks to the wind chill, it currently feels like -4C. It was hailing a few moments ago, but now it seems to have quietened down, however the forecast remains grim for tomorrow and Friday. There is a small chance we could get some snow flurries in the CBD like in 2011, so hopefully that eventuates.
It's been ludicrously busy recently, with my project expected to submit a gold master candidate this Friday. I've felt like freaking out a couple of times because I've simply been overwhelmed by several things happening at once. Sometimes it's difficult to juggle the needs of people as well as the programming tasks assigned to me, but I think that my ability to stay calm and rational (or at least appear calm and rational) has improved over the years. I think the project is in an okay position, and we'll make our deadline, but it wasn't easy getting here.
Last month, there were a few birthday celebrations. We went to Gasworks in Miramar for Phil's birthday, where Mana and I had all you can eat ribs. Dale had his birthday at Matterhorn on Cuba St (which I've written a food blog entry about) and James had his birthday at his new place on Tory St. Lizzie had her birthday with some drinks at Goldings and karaoke at KZone, naturally. Rob had an "old man brunch" out in Elements at Lyall Bay last weekend, and it was so glorious and sunny that I was in shorts, in the middle of winter. I've been sightseeing with the guys too. We've been to the Brooklyn wind turbine, the Miramar gun emplacements at night, and the Wainuiomata Coast during the day. I tried the Flaming Dragon pizza from Hell Pizza, watched four workmates do a 1kg burrito challenge, had a massive pork hock from Grill Meats Beer and got some Moustache cookies delivered from Auckland. I also caught the Venus Jupiter conjunction, though not at their closest. It's amazing seeing the planets come together like that, two of the most prominent night sky features in clear view.
Last weekend was busy too. We went to Mishmosh to try out their food and see if it would be a worthy destination for Wellington on a Plate (not bad, would recommend!), then went to Fringe bar and sang Hakuna Matata at the public karaoke. On Saturday I went to two flatwarmings and watched the Hurricanes/Highlanders game. This weekend is going to be busy too, with the end of project celebration, a lunch at Strawberry Fare, and music at Central.
Phew.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:24am on Wednesday July 8, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
The Moment When You Get Internet at a New Place
Sunday May 31, 2015
Blogging has been quiet since my move because I've been lacking a proper Internet connection. Unlike several of my friends who have been waiting for fibre to be installed in their building, this failure of connectivity was completely my own fault. I bought two modems off TradeMe, unfortunately neither of them supported PPPoE/VC-MUX which was required by my ISP for their service. ANYWAY, now that I have a working modem, I can sell the other two off on TradeMe; it's still cheaper than buying a new modem. And most importantly, I'm back on the net.
The past two weeks have been pretty busy. The move went as well as it could have. We had arranged for the Salvation Army to swing by and pick up our beds, cabinets, shelves and what not. They only did weekday visits, so I had to move my bed down from the first floor on Thursday night, which meant I was on an airbed kindly loaned from Vincent for two nights. However, on Friday morning, they called us to say that the torrential rain and subsequent flooding of Wellington's northern suburbs meant they were unable to make it. Instead, we had to hire a van and drive all of that to the store in Newtown. Thankfully, the weather had cleared by Saturday, so moving was not a problem. Thanks to Phil, Will and Vincent for their help!
Since moving into my new place, I've had a solid worship session on the piano at Central Baptist, karaoke, dinner at Dragons for Wei's birthday, steamboat at Campbell and Linda's and also managed to catch the Eurovision song contest. We said goodbye to Charles and Pete on Friday with some drinks at Fork and Brewer with the programmers, then karaoke at New Kor with all the artists - so good to see so many people out having a great time. Yesterday was weekly badminton in the morning, gym in the afternoon, and drinks for Charlie and Donnie's birthdays at Goldings, Hashi's and Southern Cross. I really enjoy how the long weekend just seems to populate itself with events and social gatherings.
Posted by Jeremy at 2:43am on Sunday May 31, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
ANZAC Weekend
Monday April 27, 2015
Whew.
I've been on the flat hunt for a while, but have finally signed the tenancy for a studio apartment just around the corner from my current place. More than anything, it's the relief of having accommodation and knowing that it's all sorted. Flat hunting sucks. There are so many overpriced places out there, really looking to screw over potential tenants. This place is going to cost me twice what I'm currently paying, but it comes with a carpark and is in a good area of town, so I'm happy to go with it for the time being.
Jono and Charlotte have been in the country and visited Wellington this weekend. It's been awesome catching up with them at all the various good food places around Wellington - brunch at Spruce Goose, yum char at Majestic Cuisine, lunch at Fisherman's Plate, dinner at El Matador ($80 worth of lamb!), pastries from Louis Sergeant and ice cream from Kaffee Eis. We celebrated Andrew's birthday at Heaven's Pizza and then had karaoke at K Zone. We played a few games of Love Letters, messed around with the foosball table and table tennis table at work, and played some Sega Mega Drive too. It's been an action-packed weekend with lots of social interaction and I'm pretty exhausted from it all - but so worth it!
I went to the dawn parade on Saturday morning too. They estimated 40,000 people had turned up at 5.30am at the newly renovated Pukeahu National War Memorial to pay their tributes and to remember the tragedies that had occurred 100 years ago to the date. It was an emotional, poignant service, with a great sense of unity and respect. It was awesome to sing the national anthem with so many others in honour of those who had died at Gallipoli.
Work-wise, we had a pretty informative Tech Day last Friday where I gave a presentation of how my project had been going, as a follow up to the presentation I did earlier in the year on how I intended to plan the project. We had a good product review last Thursday and we're hitting alpha this Thursday, so things will be busy in the coming week!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:19am on Monday April 27, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
Supa Dupa Cuba Dupa
Monday March 30, 2015
Last weekend, Mat was down for a visit so we checked out the Cuba Dupa festival and its eclectic shows and performances, as well as the amazing smells of the street food being served by local businesses. Got a delicious Bluff oyster from Matterhorn, and unfortunately was too full to try the smoked ribs proudly on display outside El Matador! The weather was a little wet and windy, but despite that, the crowds had turned out in force. Good times! We ended the day with dinner from Origami and dessert from Strawberry Fare.
On Sunday, I caught up with Vaughan, Alan, Aaron, Charles and Megan at Spruce Goose on a very sunny Sunday morning. The weather worsened over the day and I was a little rained out heading to the gym, but otherwise it was good to see more of Cuba Dupa still happening in the afternoon. I joined some workmates at the Bruhaus for a very disappointing Cricket World Cup final.
Ah cricket.
It was only in this last week that the whole nation suddenly began caring about cricket. Normally, we find it boring as hell, with really only the highlights being watchable. But at the semifinals between New Zealand and South Africa, there was a sense of excitement and tension. There was drama. There were epic moments. We began strong, striking wicket after wicket but South Africa posted a commendable 281 runs from 43 overs. When it was time for New Zealand to bat, we had a tough 298 to chase thanks to the Duckworth/Lewis method for calculating targets from play interrupted by rain. But what a close call - Grant Elliot's final triumph in the second to last ball of the game. With five runs needed, he smacks the sweetest six you've ever seen into a crowd of excited Kiwis - moments before, so still and nervous at the prospect of losing this match. Truly fantastic.
Quick summary of the last few weeks: we farewelled Joe on Friday with some tequila shots and a strong showing at karaoke, it was Will's birthday on Thursday so we were out pretty late at the Bruhaus, had a Disney Marathon and saw Tangled, Tarzan and the Lion King, and also saw Chappie (it was the worst). Work has been pretty samey lately, but next month will be a tough slog. It's almost April already...sheesh.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:13am on Monday March 30, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
End of Year Shenanigans
Sunday December 14, 2014
It's that time of the year when the parties go wild and the people start gearing up towards Christmas and the end of the year. Most of us are looking forward to the holidays ahead, even among the stress of Christmas shopping and looming deadlines, and, for the PikPok crew, the competitive nature of this year's Game Jam. Several of the teams have already begun their prototyping ahead of the final week, so it's shaping up to be a tough competition indeed.
Again, despite my efforts to try and play Pokemon or failing that, work on my Game Jam game, this week was quite busy in terms of social events. We watched a horrible Ewoks spin-off movie for 80s Movie Night on Tuesday, then on Wednesday I was out at the Fringe Bar to watch Joe's improv graduation show and then stayed for another show by Wellington Improv Troupe. On Thursday, good old Bryce had come down for Kiwicon so we caught up with him at Crafters, and on Friday... it was karaoke!
Jules is turning 30 this year so she's been having a series of birthday-related events, one of which was an amazing karaoke session last Friday. We started strong, with some good classics like Final Countdown, Bohemian Rhapsody and Keep on Movin', followed by some more contemporary songs like Tay Tay's Shake It Off. But the highlight of the night was the Idina Menzel Let It Go battle between myself and one of Juliann's friends Sarah, who rose to the challenge and duetted the iconic Frozen song with me. We channelled the frozen fractals and icy blasts, crescendoing to the final note, and at the song's triumphant end - the cold never bothered me anyway - we high-fived a job well done as the entire room erupted into wild applause.
The night had not ended there, however. We finished up at KZone and headed to JJ Murphy's to see Vigz's band Zephyr playing some cool 70s and 80s covers. There was the oldest mosh pit I'd ever seen. But the environment was jovial and light-hearted, and we ended up mobbing the dance floor during Summer of 69, so there were plenty of good times to be had.
On Saturday we had the final PikPok badminton session for the year, and then it was off to the bakery for some pies, and then to LBQ with Thomas and Astrid for another MKR BBQ. Despite the weather, Ian and Sandie had set up their equipment and were making some delectable things. I chose the Hefe marinated Lamb Loin on Bruschetta with Goat's Cheese Mousse and Mint Pea Crush, which was pretty good. The goat's cheese mousse was wonderfully smooth and had such a good flavour to compliment the other ingredients. We stayed for an hour and a bit, and then headed off to the Apartment bar for the PikPok Christmas Party.
And boy was it a party.
There was Smash Bros set up on the Wii U and Giant Jenga all ready to go. We had five PikPok-themed cocktails from Oreo, Into the Dead, Flick Kick Football Legends, Robot Unicorn Attack and Rival Stars Basketball. There was much joviality and plenty of shenanigans to go round. At one point in time I was singing I'll Make a Man out of You and also Let it Go in French. At another point in time, I started the Animaniacs Nations of the World song. I was also balancing on top of a tower erected from the Giant Jenga blocks and I was also involuntarily trust falling into the loving hands of my co-workers.
We moved on to Little Penang for some food around 8pm, where I promptly declared how amazing the night was all over the table - it must have been those three shots right before I left. Thankfully Nic, Damon, Mana and James, who were with me, took care of the mess as I was ushered into the bathroom to clean myself up. I felt much better after that, and continued on to the Fork and Brewer very briefly to see Ben off, before being walked home by Polly and Vigz.
I posted a rather dire-sounding message on Facebook making seem I was in quite a bad place, so several people had texted me to ask me if I was okay, and I reassured them everything was fine, that I was just drunk and overwhelmed because it's the first time I've ever done that, and I amended the message on Facebook as soon as I could. But it's humbling to see that I can count on all these awesome friends to be there for me if I ever need them.
For that, I am truly blessed and thankful.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:29am on Sunday December 14, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
Another Action Packed Weekend
Tuesday September 16, 2014
I felt so tired after last weekend that I was in need of another weekend to recover. Yesterday I woke up at 6am and fell asleep again, only to dream that it was a public holiday. One can only imagine how disappointed and frustrated I was when my alarm clock went off to remind me it was a Monday. It turned out Monday wasn't too bad afterall, apart from a visit from senior Labour Party candidates - David Cunliffe, David Parker and Grant Robertson - obstructing the passageway to the kitchen and preventing me from getting tea!
The weekend started off on Friday night at Kazu. Around 20 of us had gathered to celebrate Dewi's birthday with loads of food and loads of alcohol - plates of sushi, soft shelled crab, dumpings, takoyaki, tempura came out in droves and we ate and drank and talked and laughed. Naturally the only way to end the night was a solid round of karaoke! Woohoo!
Saturday morning came too early, but I was eager to get to badminton for a full two hour session. Still getting back into the swing of things, but have definitely retained some tricks from seven months ago. My back seems to be holding up more and more, especially with a bit of help from painkillers, so hopefully I can return to being a normal person soon. After some baked goods from Aro Bake and a solid nap in the afternoon, I was off to Bryan's house for his birthday celebration, where I caught up with a few people over some drinks and pizza. Good times indeed.
I was too tired to go to church the next day, but I managed to fit in groceries and marketing, before heading to the sauna for a bit to relax my back and left leg. Then it was back to town and off to Josh and Christine's for Mooncake Festival Part Two - another celebration with meats from land, sea and air. This whole process seems to be going smoother and smoother, so maybe I should do this more often? It was a thoroughly enjoyable night with fine company and fine food.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:17am on Tuesday September 16, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
Thunderbolts and Lightning
Thursday August 14, 2014
We had a sudden yet exciting hailstorm hit the city around 2.30pm today. Friends at Weta had started posting about a hailstorm hitting the Miramar Peninsula just after 2.15pm; sure enough, around five minutes later, the CBD bore the brunt of a cold snap, with hail falling in the inner city and some rather dramatic displays of thunder and lightning. We learned later that the zephyrometer - the large orange needle in Kilbirnie - had been struck by lightning and blown apart!
Speaking of the cold and storms, I was at Ants and Jo's leaving party at the ever classy Blend bar. Great to catch up with people there, but the highlight of the night was letting it go in karaoke. I was wanting to go home at midnight but couldn't resist following them to the new karaoke bar next to the Lanes bowling alley, and I was enthralled to see they had the Idina Menzel version of Let It Go there. And Let It Go I did! Amazing. Despite the late night, I was able to make it to church the next morning - just!
I had dinner with Tak and Loic at the Steer and Beer last Friday before heading to Wei's house to socialise a bit and observe some Monopoly Deal (was too stubborn to play), and saw Guardians of the Galaxy at the Gold Lounge on Sunday (could not go back to the pleb seats!) The Baking Competition pies were fantastic and the next challenge is eclairs! It's been a busy week but Wellington on a Plate starts tomorrow, and it's going to be mega.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:06am on Thursday August 14, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
Epic Karaoke
Sunday July 20, 2014
We had some epic karaoke on Friday night at New Kor. Ants, Jo, Luke, Mike and I met at 8pm for dinner there, but unfortunately the restaurant was full, so Mr Lee let us have some pre-karaoke while we waited for a table. And in the 45 minutes that we were there, we belted out some amazing numbers: Ants and Mike dueting Creed's "With Arms With Open" perfectly, in the exact same style; Luke and I hitting some sweet harmonies with Bette Midler's "The Rose"; some smooth baritone versions of "My Heart Will Go On" and "I Will Always Love You". So good.
After dinner, we were joined by Matt, Ben, Jill, Charlie, Jimmy and Thomas where the festivities continued for another two hours, hitting max crescendo with Bohemian Rhapsody as the night's epic finale. There was plenty of soju and plenty of song, and it was a fantastic night indeed.
It was an early start to the next morning however, as I played badminton for the first time in almost six months. With my leg feeling marginally tight, I was able to play on and off for the full two hours without too much strain and had a great time easing back into an activity I have been missing so much this year.
That night, I was at Jordan and Chloe's for their flat warming - a classy wine and cheese night. Another great night of fine conversation and an amazing selection of wines, cheeses and condiments, including's Nic's Cob Loaf, a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with cheese, sour cream, spring onions and bacon. The night's activities included Josh and Damon visiting the rave party downstairs, and a flurry of selfie bombs on Damon's Facebook page.
Music at Central Baptist went well this morning. I wanted to spend more time reflecting on the devastating news on MH17 - yet another tragedy for Malaysia Airlines as one of their planes was shot down over the Ukraine killing all 300 people on board - but there were plenty of other wrongs in the world to pray for. There sure is a lot of conflict these days... it's pretty depressing.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:32am on Sunday July 20, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
The Best and Worst April Fools Joke Ever
Monday April 7, 2014
Last Tuesday on April 1st, Google pimped their Google Maps app for mobile with catchable Pokemon scattered throughout the world. I jumped on that bandwagon so fast and by the end of the day, I had successfully caught 150 of the Pokemon they'd put into this little April Fools joke. But I soon became aware of Mew's existence somewhere in the Amazon and it was another two days of searching and staring at Reddit before the elusive Number One Five One finally presented itself deep in the forests of South America.
Whee.
It's been a pretty busy weekend, starting off with a murder mystery at the Carter Observatory. Aboard the "International Space Station", we stumbled upon a grisly scene - the owner of the Solar Flare laboratory was found dead from strangulation and asphyxiation! It was a most enjoyable night, with canapes and fine wines to be had, and some interesting people to hang out with for a few hours.
Mat was down in Wellington too and we caught up with him at Ortega before going to Hashigozake for some drinks and Tiger for some karaoke. The night was still young and we ended up at Alice before finally heading home at 1am. Thanks to daylight savings though, I was able to make it to church on time, and caught up with Mat again for a gluttonous afternoon at La Bella Italia in Petone and Strawberry Fare soon after. I also met up with the Fine Dining Club at Charley Noble by the TSB Arena for a very fine dining experience indeed.
It was just a weekend of eating, basically.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:28am on Monday April 7, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
All Quiet on Christmas Eve
Tuesday December 24, 2013
I was mentally checked out from work probably a week before we actually finished. The final week we spent doing a Game Jam of sorts - management presented a series of questions they wanted answered and we were to spend a week trying to see if we could answer these questions. It was okay; I felt like last year's Game Jam was way more enjoyable. I was lucky I had a great team this year and though things were a bit rocky and indecisive at the start, we pulled together and made a pretty neat toy. We celebrated the end of the year with karaoke at New Kor.
I drove up to Auckland on the Saturday after work had finished with two colleagues. We made good time; we left Wellington around 9.30am and stopped in Waiouru for lunch, Taupo for ice cream, Huka Falls for some sightseeing and Tokoroa for a quick nap, and still made it to Auckland at 6.30pm-ish. As usual, the drive was straightforward and easy, though I was a bit miserable and tired at the end of it.
I got to see the new KCC building for the first time at the Sunday Christmas service. It's very spacious and looks great, and it was great to catch up with so many people. We spent the rest of the day playing games like Buzz, Dominion, 7 Wonders and Up and Down the River before heading home around 1am. Whee.
On Monday I did some last minute Christmas shopping at West City Westfield. Not as busy as I thought it would be, but I wasn't there for too long. I picked up some food supplies as well, and I caught up with my sister and her family. My nephew sure has grown! So cute. I played soccer with him for a bit. Adorable that he's so excited to see me. Will be looking forward to seeing them again tomorrow for Christmas lunch.
After a quick nap, I was off to Newmarket to catch up with the Wellington/ex-Wellington crew for our traditional Christmas dinner at Sun World. Sumptuous plates of Peking duck, prawn balls, lamb cutlets, fried tofu, fried squid and chicken filled the table. It was an excellent meal with excellent company.
And finally today, I caught up with Amy in Ponsonby at the Foxtrot Parlour, before heading to Reuben and Shereen's to catch up with the other guys from youth group for a Christmas potluck lunch. We did a last minute Secret Santa that worked out pretty well. Everyone was told to bring one dud gift and one nice gift. I scored myself a Gucci pocket air-freshener thing (the "dud" but not really!), as well as a microfibre cleaning cloth. We played some Time's Up, although looking at Board Game Geek's description of it, we played it horribly wrong. Still, we had a fun time and everyone was satisfied and tired by the time we parted ways.
It's been almost non-stop social events since arriving in Auckland. I'm always surprised by just how busy I am over this period despite making very vague plans prior to coming up. It's not really my style to do that, but apparently it works well and it's a lot of fun (sometimes very tiring!) seeing people and catching up.
Holidays are great.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:47am on Tuesday December 24, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
Back in KL
Monday June 3, 2013
I spent my last full day in Singapore just wandering aimlessly around various touristy spots like Little India, Chinatown, Suntec City (which was under renovation and completely boring) and Raffles City. There was a lot to see, especially around Chinatown, and despite the heat, the walk was pleasant and relaxing. I didn't end up buying anything except food and drinks during the day; given the Singapore dollar is one-to-one with the New Zealand dollar, the better bargains are in Malaysia where our dollar is worth 2.45 Malaysian ringgit.
I made my way back to Orchard Road and went around a few of the shopping malls I had missed on my first visit. It had begun to rain but these smart (yet still crazy) Singaporeans have linked all their shopping malls with underground passageways so you can stay dry and air conditioned. I ended up at 313@Somerset where I had dinner with my cousin who I had been staying with.
After dinner we went to Gardens in the Bay, a large park on the south side of town by the Marina Bay Sands hotel. At night, the canopy is lit up with some amazing light structures and every so often there's a musical show accompanied by some synchronised light choreography. The night view was pretty interesting and much more tolerable in a cooler temperature, but most of the attractions there had closed. Maybe next time I should visit early in the morning.
After a brief flight the next day, we were back in KL just in time for lunch and my auntie and uncle took me to eat some delicious char kuay teow. I didn't want to stuff my face too much because there were some big dinner plans!
Last night for dinner, we were treated to a fantastic dinner at Jaya Palace. Five of dad's six siblings were there, along with various children (my cousins - I counted 10 present from 16 possible). The food was amazing, especially the deep fried duck egg prawns and of course, the abalone, which I love. My uncle had also brought some French wines and some Japanese whiskey for some added joviality, and once dinner had started to wrap up, we busted out the karaoke machine!
I'm hungry now. I think I'll be doing some shopping today and catching up with another one of my cousins who I missed last night. Only a few more nights to go before I return to New Zealand so I guess I should be making the most of it. Eat all the things!
Posted by Jeremy at 12:51am on Monday June 3, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
The Secret to Good Tom Yum Soup
Saturday April 9, 2011
Limes. Fresh lime juice. Adds that little bit of sweet and sour flavour to the soup... delicious! Before Dave left for Australia, we took him up to the Wairarapa for a bit of a tour, and on the way back we stopped by this fruit and vegetable place where I bought some huge capsicums, some lemons and some limes. While the capsicums are almost gone, I still have plenty of lemons and limes. I made lemon chicken one day, and apart from burning the chicken a little bit, it was really good. Yay for expanding my cooking horizons!
Been for karaoke twice in the past week. I "blame" Petey (King Pededede as his friends call him, his birthday was last week) and Owen. It's good fun, although I usually end up with no voice afterwards. Also, apparently Lift and Soju is a good combination, but I'm still ambivalent on that one.
Last week, I met up with the guys from the Tongariro Crossing to play some board games. We played a game of "Power Grid", where you're a power plant owner trying to supply Germany with power fueled from rubbish, coal, oil, uranium or environmentally-friendly sources. The game is interesting because the person in the best position will get the last turn to buy resources and build buildings, although this didn't seem to faze Jono, who pretty much steamrolled his way to victory.
After consuming a Burger Wisconsin burger and several greasily delicious sides, we wound down the night with a few games of Dominion. Next time, I think we're going to try Agricola or Puerto Rico. Looking forward to it!
Posted by Jeremy at 8:42am on Saturday April 9, 2011 :: 1 comment ::
Over Overtime
Monday August 31, 2009
It appears that overtime is slowly phasing out, so tentantive rejoicing. The game hasn't shipped yet because we're still waiting for some issues to be resolved on the publisher's side, so in the meantime, most of us are just sitting at work, testing and playing the game and fixing bugs as they come through.
Boooorrrrrrring.
Derek's last day at work was last Thursday, so we farewelled him with lunch at Viva Mexico, and then Friday Starcraft, Friday drinks (2 for 1 at Blend lol) and Karaoke at New Kor. While it was all really fun, I prefer my karaoke to be a bit more "structured" per say - I can sing, but I can't yell and it pretty much turned into an alcohol-fuelled yelling match. Which was not optimal, but hey, we had some good group singalongs with Eye of the Tiger, Bohemian Rhapsody and A Whole New World.
I was involved with the Youth Band at church last Sunday, where we led the service. They sound really good and just need some polish for perfection. I switched music teams, so this coming Sunday I'm on the piano again (for the third Sunday in a row). Not that I mind, I just lose that extra hour of sleep on Sunday mornings!
Oh yes, I'm also looking to go back to Malaysia over Christmas/New Year's because my grandparents are celebrating their 90th and 80th birthdays in January. It's going to be great, I haven't been back to Malaysia since the beginning of 2003, and I'm eagerly awaiting the chance to taste all the delicious food back home.
Speaking of food, thanks to no overtime, I've been able to cook for the first time in what seems like a month. On Saturday night I had steamed tofu, stir fried bak choy and carrots, and apricot chicken! And because I could, I bought some bacon and had that for lunch on Sunday. By bacon, I mean the deliciously crunchy kind, not the soggy types you get on burgers or whatever. Soooo good.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:41am on Monday August 31, 2009 :: 0 comments ::