Chinese New Year
Wednesday February 25, 2015
So much food.
I've been up in Auckland with family celebrating Chinese New Year. 2015 is the year of the sheep! I drove to the airport last Thursday with Phil and was surprised to see Dana and Angeline taking the same flight to Auckland; Dana for the Foo Fighters concert and Angeline to get back to University. Angeline is taking CompSci and was keen to chat to me about courses and careers and things like that, and it was kinda interesting to hear that not much had changed with CompSci101.
I followed dad into town on Friday and saw Andy at Wedge Juice Bar, and met up with Bobby and Raymond for lunch at Nol Bu Ne, then dessert at Meet Fresh. We went home early because they had cooked a rich abalone stew on Wednesday night and needed to finish the leftovers before the weekend, so we gorged ourselves with this amazing dish, before heading out to Musashi for dinner - soft-shelled crab!!! Still in the mood for more, we went to Chiko's for their summer special dessert - halo halo, which is like a Filipino ice kacang. This one had taro ice cream, red beans, green beans, French pastries and some miscellaneous jellies and fruit strewn throughout the shaved ice. Yum!
On Saturday, we had music practice at KCC and yum cha at Wing Wah, before I headed home to help cook for our belated reunion dinner. I did my lettuce wrap, dad made a stir-fried prawns dish, Khim made dumplings and Anita brought some roast pork and barbeque pork. What a feed! Still, it didn't compare to the feasts happening back in Malaysia. Plenty of updates coming through from WhatsApp showing us all the delicious things we're missing out on! One day I will go back to Malaysia for Chinese New Year.
Music went well on Sunday morning at KCC, and I was back at Wing Wah for yum cha again. On Sunday night however, we went to KK in Greenlane for a special Chinese New Year banquet menu for invited guests only! It was a nine course dinner with dishes they don't normally serve on the a la carte menu. On Monday, I was in town again meeting up with my school mates for lunch at Mezze. I caught up with Will, who I hadn't seen in over four years, and we wandered around town via Giapo and Moustache. Good times.
Last week was the inaugural PikPok Plunge, a company challenge to jump off the wooden plank down by the waterfront. Brett organised a barbeque and Juliann, Mana and I sorted out the food for several hungry colleagues who had turned up to Frank Kitts Park to watch a team of thirteen sport their best costumes, dives and splashes into the harbour. The weather was absolutely stunning for the event, and it really is true that you can't beat Wellington on a good day.
We also farewelled Prashant, the animator on my project, and Jimmy, who has been my designer for every project except one, for the last five years. We celebrated their time with us with a meal at Thunderbird Cafe and some French delectables from Louis Sergeant afterwards. This one I got was a violet dome of white chocolate and blackcurrant mousse. Furthermore, I brought a black forest cake, pandan cake, pineapple, melon, lychee and mango biscuits, some sesame balls and some mango and lychee jellies to celebrate Chinese New Year, my work anniversary and my birthday at all once.
This weekend, we'll be at the PikPok Family Day and a Chinese New Year dinner that coincides with the beginning of autumn. There has been so much food, but there's no other way I'd celebrate Chinese New Year. Family and food are the best.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:18am on Wednesday February 25, 2015 :: 0 comments :: 
Seven Years
Sunday February 8, 2015
It has been just over seven years to the date when I left Auckland to start a new life in Wellington as a fresh graduate programmer for a video games company that no one could pronounce called Sidhe. Seven years...that's a quarter of my life now. It's been an incredible journey and I've learned so much in that time. I've worked with heaps of cool people and made some awesome games, and I have many proud achievements from my time at work.
Despite the physical separation, I have kept in contact with many of my friends at KCC, my church in Auckland, and regularly see them and hang out whenever I'm back up for holiday. This past Waitangi weekend, I flew up specially for the KCC church camp at Chosen Valley in the Ararimu Valley, near Bombay. Though I did miss out on quite a few of the team activities, I managed to participate in the clue hunt and relay, where I was the kayaker for the first leg of the race. There was amazing food thanks to Uncle Sam and Auntie Cynthia, several games of late night Mafia, karting, flying foxes, archery, a bonfire, plenty of singing and lots of good learnings to take away from the camp.
The bonfire was quite a highlight. As we gathered around the warmth of the flames, we started singing some good old Christian songs like How Great Thou Art and Refiner's Fire. As the adults started to leave, we started busting out some more mainstream tunes like Maroon 5, Backstreet Boys and every Disney song imaginable: Let it Go, Circle of Life, Be Prepared, Colours of the Wind, I'll Make a Man out of You, Under the Sea, Be Our Guest.... so good.
And of course, Mafia was another big highlight. There were so many people interested in playing Mafia... it's been ages since I've last had to juggle more than 20 players. In addition to the regular detective, doctor and sniper, I threw in a resurrecting character (aptly named Jesus, because he rises again on the third day), the pig (who can only say "pig") and the jester (who wins if they get hung by the citizens during the day). Moreover, I imposed a six minute time limit with a random death if none had been decided on during the day, and the mafioso got to kill two people per night. The dynamics worked well once I had gotten my head around managing the characters, but I find with a crowd that big, interest begins to wane quite rapidly among several players (especially since we often play past midnight, people get quite sleepy) and it isn't as intimate or intense as with, say, fifteen people. It's good to see my regular crew being strong players - I feel like I have taught you well!
When I arrived on the Friday, I was a bit overwhelmed with how many faces I didn't know, but there's nothing like a good solid game of Mafia to get to know people. The congregation has changed so much while I've been away, but the people of KCC are always so welcoming and warm, it feels like I've never left at all. It's been a most memorable weekend.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:22am on Sunday February 8, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
Sixty Years
Monday January 26, 2015
I've been up in Auckland to celebrate my father's 60th birthday. What a milestone! Of course, food was involved; we went to Sun World in Newmarket for Peking duck, prawn balls, long-life noodles, steamed orange roughy, deep-fried tofu and some seasonal vegetables. Always a good time there. We topped the night with a deliciously rich and moist chocolate cake, though dad was adamant that there was to be no public singing.
The weekend didn't start well though. I was in the concept art room at work saying my goodbyes to Joel on Friday night when a dried ghost pepper chili was being handed around. After everyone had taken their bite, I took mine (after scooping out about twenty seeds) but oh boy I was full of regret. I immediately began hiccuping, and had to rush for some ice cream and milk. Still having troubles, I took some antacids and managed to calm down for a while, but had troubles walking for more than 50 metres at a time. I eventually made it to St Johns for a bit, then we headed to the night markets once I was feeling much better, but I lost track of time and had to run off to catch my flight. Unfortunately, since I had booked with Jetstar, they were super unforgiving about check-in and I ended up missing my flight by ten minutes.
Sulking, I left the airport and watched as the stupid plane took off from the runway. Jerks.
I took the next flight to Auckland in the morning, for only a $50 penalty, but once I was at home, everything was pretty much back to normal. I grabbed some Wendy's, did some shopping at West City and dozed off in the afternoon before dinner at Sun World. All's well that ends well.
On Sunday, I was at KCC early to join the music team for the first time in many, many years. So good playing with the guys again, plenty of dynamics and passion in the music. The sermon was pretty ace as well, we had a guest speaker who did a spectacular live painting on stage after the message. After church, we were at Musashi in New Lynn for some soft-shelled crab and then I was back home to help with dinner preparations for that night.
Today was pretty cruisy, we were supposed to meet for some Smash Bros but those plans fell through and I ended up just sitting at home playing Pokemon on my 3DS. We went over to my sister's house to celebrate my nephew's fourth birthday with a family afternoon tea before heading to the airport (early) for my flight back to Wellington. Good times.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:06am on Monday January 26, 2015 :: 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 ::
Suddenly August
Thursday August 7, 2014
I was up in Auckland last weekend for May and Norman's wedding. Awesome to catch up with my KCC crew and even more exciting to see these two be married and to celebrate with them over a fantastic meal at the Cube on Swanson St in the city.
I got to see my two nephews - the older one is as giggly as ever, and extremely excitable, the younger one we call fei jai because of his cute chubby cheeks! They really do grow up so fast and I really wish I could see them more often. I also took my parents to this amazing restaurant called Chikos on Lincoln Road. The chef there is Filipino but trained in French cuisine and his food combines contemporary flavours of Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Japan to produce some truly delightful and inspired dishes. I was blown away by the immaculate presentation of each dish, as well as the freshness of the ingredients and the exciting, unique taste of the meal. Definitely one to visit again in the future, and for $30 per main, a very reasonably priced one at that.
This week has been pretty busy too. I went for yoga again on Monday but felt so horrible afterwards that I'm probably just going to skip the last two classes - I ended up having some shooting pains down my leg and it was so hot and humid that I felt like I was going to pass out. I've just come back from Luke's birthday celebration at the Lighthouse Cinema where we ate an Adventure Time cake and saw Princess Mononoke.
One more week until Wellington on a Plate! Organising people together for this is worse than herding cats, but I'm sure the negativity will melt away once I get some burgers in my mouth. This week's baking challenge was a vegetable cake - a cake with a vegetable as the primary ingredient. Our bakers pulled together with pumpkin, beetroot, zucchini, mushroom (ugh!), onion (ugh!!), potato and rhubarb; huge congratulations to Jules and Tim for their contributions to the challenge - next week's is pie!
Posted by Jeremy at 12:08pm on Thursday August 7, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
Year of the Horse
Thursday February 6, 2014
I spent Chinese New Year up in Auckland. I guess I'm a stickler for tradition, Chinese New Year should be spent with family and it was good to see my parents, my sister and brother in law, and especially my two nephews. One day I hope to spend CNY back in Malaysia - I almost had a chance to do that this time round but Malaysia Airlines wouldn't have any of that.
Eight at the Langham Hotel had a promotion during January where all diners whose birthdays were in January dined for free! So I treated dad to the famous buffet lunch there and it was awesome. There was plenty of fresh oysters and some different things from when I went over New Years with Jordan, and some festive delights in celebration of the Chinese New Year too! Not surprisingly, the majority of the diners there were Asian. The amazing lunch caused me to have a three hour food coma, but I regretted nothing.
Saturday was our family Chinese New Year dinner. Though "reunion dinner" is supposed to happen on New Year's Eve, rules are a bit more relaxed these days to allow for working families and those who have to travel long distances to get home. Nevertheless, the spirit of the dinner was honoured, with plenty of dishes, each symbolic in their own right: chicken, duck, prawns, fish and vegetables made for a scrumptious feast, even if it was a bit chaotic preparing it.
On Sunday I went to church, followed by our regular lunch at Masala, and then I met a few of the old gang at Cornwall Park for a late barbeque picnic for Jacinta. So wonderful to feel the sunshine (and no wind), and great to catch up with people - even if I'd only seen them a month ago. It's been six years since I left Auckland, but I still enjoy the friendships I've made with these people despite the distance. I also got to play badminton on Monday night with them - so good.
I managed to get a login for the computers at Uni so I could work on a presentation about Dynamic Programming for the PikPok Developer Conference next week. I took the chance to wander around the city campus, admiring the new buildings and appreciating the old ones. I was astonished to find the entrance to the CompSci department completely different - they've removed the time tunnel and replaced it with a large hallway where the Science Student Center sits, as well as a time wall depicting various important historical events. Info Commons hadn't changed much (Munchy Mart is still there <3) and I was able to finish most of the Powerpoint presentation in the three days I was at Uni. I also caught up with Bobby and Raymond on Tuesday at Elliot Stables, and Graeme and Tom on Wednesday at Tony's.
Such a pleasant and relaxed few days. I should do that more often.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:45am on Thursday February 6, 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 ::
Not Long To Go
Sunday May 19, 2013
The word "home" in English commonly means one's place of residence or a geographical area that one identifies with as their place of belonging. When I talk about home, my home is in Wellington, where I work and live. When I talk about home, my home is in Auckland, where I grew up and lived for 20 years of my life. When I talk about home, it's odd because I'm using the word in a way that many Malaysian expats will use it - our "home" is Malaysia. When we go back "home", we're returning to the motherland; and though I am officially a New Zealand citizen, Malaysia will always affectionately be "home", because it's where I was born.
The last time I was back in Malaysia was Christmas 2009/New Years 2010. It was full of fond memories... much of it spent enjoying the fantastic food, but also a great excursion to China and Hong Kong, and of course, seeing family that I had not seen in over 7 years. I'm always looking forward to long haul trips, and I can't wait to catch up with everyone and eat everything. People often have a list of things to buy or things to see when they go overseas - when you go to Malaysia, you have a list of things to eat. Whether it be the aroma of durian from pasar malam, or the anticipation as your favourite roadside cendol is prepared, or cooling off with some barley water as you wait for the bak kut teh or yong tau foo to arrive, or playing mahjong while your auntie prepares her famous nasi lemak - my favourite memories about Malaysia are often associated with food. It is such an important part of our culture and who we are.
It's been a while since I last blogged... Robot Unicorn Attack 2 has been out for almost a month now and is doing very well, with over three million downloads the last time I checked. We also released Turbo Racing League, a snail racer based off the DreamWorks Animation movie due out in July. Work has continued to be busy as I wrap up my duties before I leave for holiday.
At the start of the month I was in Auckland for Reuben and Shereen's wedding. Though the rain was torrential, the ceremony and reception were fantastic and it was great to catch up with people and celebrate the marriage of two of my good friends. I got to play piano at KCC's Sunday service and had a great time, and I got to see my nephew as well. It was a rushed weekend, but thoroughly enjoyable. The following weekend, Surya had made his way down to Wellington after graduating in a Masters of Science, so we went out for dinner at Ozeki and milk tea at Noah's Ark.
Finally, a decent milk tea place!
I went ice skating last night with Amy, Mitchell and Chloe. I was surprised at how good they were - it never really occurred to me that they had such hidden talents! The last time I had been ice skating was probably 10 years ago, at Sunway Pyramid in Malaysia, so it was a very awkward start to getting back on the ice. I've never really been one to ice skate or rollerblade or do anything graceful like that, so for most of the hour I was clumsily flailing like a moron around the rink. Despite my frantic yelling and panicked expressions, I had a good time and was proud that I bailed only once during the time I was there, and furthermore, only Mitchell was around to witness my elegant barrel roll, from which I recovered quickly and nonchalantly resumed skating.
It's now only four more sleeps until my flight back "home". Still many things to sort out and people to catch up with before I leave - exciting times ahead!
Posted by Jeremy at 11:42am on Sunday May 19, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
The Year of the Snake
Sunday February 10, 2013
Though I've just had a five day weekend, I feel exhausted from all the people I've caught up with over the past few days. It's been an enjoyable Chinese New Year celebration, seeing both family and friends over my time up in Auckland.
It is tradition to have Reunion Dinner on Chinese New Year. This is when all members of the family gather for a meal to bring in the new year; though the rules are a bit more relaxed as family members tend to be more dispersed around the world these days, the reason and meaning remains the same. My parents cooked some delicious food on Wednesday (we didn't even celebrate it on the real New Years Eve!), each dish symbolising various aspects of well-wishing that are common at the New Year - prosperity, abundance, wealth and happiness.
I caught up with Melbourne Dave on Thursday in town. We walked around the waterfront and Wynyard Quarter, we visited Moustache and for old times' sake, trudged up the hill to Albert Park and the University of Auckland. Seems like not much has changed, though there's some heavy construction around the Maths/Physics and CompSci buildings. Dave is doing well and it was great to catch up and see him, and hopefully one of these days I will make it over to Melbourne to visit him and the other people I know there!
I had lunch at the ever-delectable Tatsumi in Newmarket on Friday with my step-mum and grandmother. Never failing to disappoint, the "deluxe lunch" option with three main dishes, appetisers and a petite dessert was delightfully satisfying. Friday night went until 3am, visiting Jay's Tea on Dominion Road and playing 7 Wonders with the guys.
Saturday was relaxing, doing absolutely nothing all day except mowing the lawns in the early evening. I tried to organise something at night since my parents were out at a party, but unfortunately most of my friends were having their own reunion dinners and nothing eventuated.
After church at KCC and lunch at My Kitchen on Dominion Road, I spent the rest of Sunday playing more 7 Wonders. Some pretty grim low-resource games at the end, but fun nonetheless. Okay not really fun, but it was good to catch up with people, and next time I'll teach them about the Leaders expansion.
Did you know it's been five years since I moved to Wellington? I've been at my job for longer than I was at University. Time has gone by so quickly, with people coming and going in and out of my life. I remember this hilarious and thoughtful but a bit disturbing music video that the guys had made for me before I left for Wellington. It was to the Spice Girls' Goodbye, which has the lyrics "Goodbye my friend....it's not the end...so glad we made it, time will never change it". The weekend reminded me of how strong our friendships have remained in spite of the distance between us.
It was poignant then, that the song came up as Matt drove me to the airport, since it was the last time I would see him before he moves to Taiwan. The weekend was a time to reflect on how things used to be, and on what I cherish each time I come back to Auckland for a visit. Thanks to all of you for making my weekend what it was, and blessings in the year of the snake to all of you.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:54am on Sunday February 10, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
KCC Youth Skit
Wednesday May 19, 2010
I just downloaded and watched the youth skit that the Ignite crew put on for the service on May 16th 2010. Great job guys! I felt compelled to share that with you.
I'm tired. I just got home from badminton. Whee~!
Posted by Jeremy at 9:34am on Wednesday May 19, 2010 :: 0 comments ::
Wellington, City of Eternal Winter
Monday January 18, 2010
Arrived safely into New Zealand yesterday afternoon after a shorter-than-normal flight - it was less than 10 hours, and during that time I managed to sleep, watch the remainder of Bolt, see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Aristocats, enjoy a Nasi Lemak and horde some Ferrero Rocher.
I was surprisingly quick through New Zealand customs despite being questioned by three airport security staff. They all asked the same thing: can I see your passport (I guess...), what's in the box (an LCD monitor), and how much did it cost (dirt cheap). Was picked up by Reuben and we went to Cornwall Park to catch up with the rest of the church, who had conveniently decided to have a picnic that day.
Spent the rest of the afternoon with my sister and had dinner at her place before she dropped me at the airport for my flight back to Wellington. Unfortunately for me, Wellington had decided that summer sucks so it shrouded itself in dense fog, preventing the plane from landing and, an hour after we were supposed to land, we had to divert to bloody Palmerston North International Airport (I didn't know it was an international airport...) where Air NZ kindly put us on a very air conditioned bus back to Wellington.
Stupid city.
First day of work for the new year and not too bad really. It was really hard waking up this morning and until about 1pm I was quite groggy and not concentrating well. I think my colleagues appreciated the love letter rolls, the green tea and lemon lollies and the mango chewies. It's Spicy Food Tuesday tomorrow!
Posted by Jeremy at 9:10am on Monday January 18, 2010 :: 0 comments ::
Websites
Saturday September 13, 2008
It's been a very busy week in terms of the two websites which I am responsible for.
Firstly, the Ignite Youths website was released to public eyes at the beginning of the week - a result of some awesome collaboration between myself and Reuben.
Secondly, Pokemon Platinum was leaked three days early, much to my surprise, so I moved into emergency mode and started hacking for information as soon as I could. That involved ringing the flat during work hours and getting Andrew to email me some of my programs. ¬.¬
In any case, Psypoke's got some great information for the time we've spent on it. I've been browsing some other websites and they're very far ahead in the game, but I know WPM from PokeBeach spent 28 hours continuously playing the game. I wouldn't be surprised if SPP had some slave doing the same for him.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:56pm on Saturday September 13, 2008 :: 2 comments ::
Trucks and Cake, Rucks and Fakes
Saturday July 5, 2008
I wanted to make sure I got to work on time on Friday, so I spent Thursday night at the Hub because of the trucks protest. They took so long coming down State Highway 1 that they only got to town around 8.30am, so there wasn't any traffic at all. But once they got in...there was epic honking and blasting of horns. They certainly made their presence known in Central Wellington. I heard there was mayhem in Auckland as they blocked up the Southern Motorway and Queen St too.
We'd also learned that Team Puppyguts, led by some guys at work, had won the 48 Hour Film Festival. Congratulations to them! In celebration, the company got a treat.
I spent most of the day finishing up the Ignite Website..and sneaking in a few games of DotA. Sigh I'm so rusty. But the website itself is making good progress, and Ignite Youths 2.0 will definitely release on time :p
I just got back from watching the game at JJ Murphy's. What an epic game!
We had a good meal as well. They were unfortunately out of steaks, so I ordered some delicious lamb shanks. Still a little bit hungry, Sunni, Andrew and I decided to share a chocolate mud cake (We were looking at Raewyn enjoying hers and wanted one too). My first comment upon its arrival:
"...This tastes meaty...."
Yeah. Some one had confused chocolate sauce with barbeque sauce. Awesome.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:15am on Saturday July 5, 2008 :: 3 comments ::
Phew
Sunday December 9, 2007
It's been very tiring lately.
Friday we had a BASIC Group dinner, and that was nice: we had teriyaki pork with stirfry veges on rice, and Cinta's famous chocolate pudding. We also played some Pictionary and had brainteasers from the Cranium card pack, and we were still keen to do something, so we went to Momo's <3 I had a Taro Milk Tea with Mango Pudding.
Saturday was busy too, music in the morning (only four songs so we were done quite quickly) then the church BBQ in the afternoon. So much food, it was awesome. There was meat of all kinds, satay, curry chicken, meatloaf, potato salads, coleslaw.... and for dessert there was cheesecake, fresh fruit, sago pudding, apple crumble, lemon tart....mmm. And THEN, after that, we went to Momo's. Again <3 I had a Blueberry Nata.
Today we had our last BASIC for the year (probably forever, for me), and we didn't have any songs prepared so we had a "Free Choice" where you just picked whatever song you wanted. And since we were sitting out in the front anyway, I decided to play the piano and I stuffed the intro for the third song, but otherwise it went really well. I felt a bit cheated after not playing for Open Worship last week, so this makes up for it. Then during discussion, we had some really interesting questions brought up, so props to Uncle Paul and Uncle Lye Chye for their explanations and sharing.
Finally we had skit practice where everyone got to hit me with some kind of inanimate object. Blah.
I spent some time on Saturday night resolving some conflicts. It's really quite tiring, physically and emotionally. But I don't mind it, because it means were resolve what's bad and look forward to more fun times. I'm glad we had that talk to sort things out.
Tonight, a couple of my step-mum's friends are coming over, so I guess I should be helping to prepare. But I feel like sleeping.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:24am on Sunday December 9, 2007 :: 0 comments ::