

Definitely the Shittiest Game I've Ever Worked On
Friday March 6, 2026
After being laid off last October, I knew I was unlikely to land a job that side of the new year, so I decided to just relax for a few months. I played a lot of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and purchased the Mega Dimension DLC to go with it. While it wasn't a particularly standout game - in fact, a lot of the gameplay in the DLC felt like chores - the active battle system was a fresh take on a very old formula. Still, it was a good way to pass the time, especially with the days growing darker and darker. We had a nice gathering at Asian Dragon Buffet with my friends from the badminton group for our end of year do, and then another buffet at Spring Garden for Izzy's birthday, but otherwise most of my days were spent playing on my Switch and cleaning up 20 year old PHP code for Psypoke.
In the weeks before Christmas, I had some interviews with a Vancouver company that looked really promising. The recruiter was a Kiwi - immediately putting me at ease. Real nice guy to chat to, and just wonderful hearing someone else that sounded like me. The technical test wasn't too difficult, apparently I had one of the quickest solves, and the cultural fit interview was also smooth. After finishing the two rounds of interviews with them, I was waiting to see if they would offer me a position, when surprisingly I received an offer from the last place I expected to - FuzzyBot. Someone was leaving and they needed extra hands to help ship the game. It was a no brainer. I loved working with the people there and I loved the work I did, so I had to turn the Vancouver company down. On January 5th, I started working for FuzzyBot again, on the shittiest game I have ever worked on.
We Gotta Go is a "friendslop" game - games designed to be played with friends, where the intent is to pull people in and go viral. In our game, you are the embodiment of poop, trying to find a toilet in a haunted mansion where everything scares the shit out of you, literally. There's so much room for humour and though it's not the kind of game I love playing, I have been having an incredibly fun time working on it. Turns out toilet humour is extremely popular.
The period between Christmas and New Years was nice. I cooked a big Christmas brunch with bacon, eggs, avocado and sourdough, and then an even bigger Christmas dinner with wasabi mayo prawns, and herb-crusted lamb cutlets, roast vegetables and purple yam mash. We finished the dinner with Costco tiramisu and hot chocolate! On Boxing Day, we had planned to go to Niagara Falls to see if they were frozen over, but the weather was so bad that we decided to stay in Toronto and have hotpot for dinner. For New Years Eve, we had another hotpot and then we went down to Billy Bishop Airport and braved the -10C weather to watch the fireworks over the waterfront in front of the CN Tower. New Years Day had nicer weather, so we drove to Missisauga to have IHOP and then to Tiffany Falls and Niagara Falls to see all the ice. It wasn't cold enough for everything to properly freeze over, but there's still beauty in the ice formations that we did see.
January and February have gone by reasonably quick, although there was a period of 11 days where I absolutely did not leave my building at all. The snowstorm during that time was so severe that both badminton and church on Sunday were cancelled. 60cm of snow was recorded at Toronto Pearson Airport. The piles of snow from that storm are still visible almost 6 weeks later, though we are getting False Spring 1 this weekend and that should melt away a bunch of the ice. Probably the highlight of January was seeing Rob Paulsen (voice of Yakko and Pinky), Maurice LaMarche (voice of The Brain) and Randy Rogel (songwriter) perform at the Flato Theatre in Markham. It was a night of 90s nostalgia, with plenty of laughs and humour. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to sing along to Yakko's Nations of the World song with Rob. United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru... 🎶 After the show, I got to chat with them a little bit and take a photograph with them, and mentioned that they had worked for Steven Spielberg, and I work for Max Spielberg, so at some point in time we've all had a Spielberg for a boss.
For Chinese New Year, I cooked up another massive dinner. I don't know what I was thinking - my place can only hold five people but for some reason I ended up cooking for like, eight people. I guess that fear of not having enough food was real. The yee sang turned out super well, and in addition to being immaculately presented, it tasted excellent as well, perfectly balanced in sweetness, saltiness, freshness and sourness. So many ingredients went in - the base of cucumber, carrots and radish, and then mango, pomelo, red capsicum, smoked salmon, salted egg fish skin and abalone - the premium ingredients inspired by the yee sang I had in Malaysia two years ago.

In addition to this, there were prawns, duck and lettuce wrap, roast pork, barbeque pork, stuffed tofu and fried rice. Phoebe had brought some famous Chinese New Year snacks as well as some of the selection of treats I had bought for dessert.
And now that it's March, and the Nondescript March Event has passed, I've felt a lot more reflective and introspective than usual. What I've achieved with my life, where I am now, what I want to happen in the future. Things have largely gone very well for me in my life, despite one very marked tragedy early on, and more recently, two layoffs in two years. I still feel uncertain about this year and how it will unfold, but hopefully things will turn out okay.
2025 So Far
Sunday January 26, 2025
The end of 2024 was pretty quiet without my parents around the house in Auckland. I wrapped up work for the year, I spent a lot of time at the gym, I caught up with people who hadn’t gone away on holidays. I’m at the age where my friends are all talking about injuries and ailments like gout. I spent Christmas with my sister and her in-laws out in Waiuku. The weather has been mostly warm and sunny, and I’ve been loving it.
For New Year’s Eve, I bought myself some prawns and green-lipped mussels, and cooked those up for a delicious seafood feast, then I headed to Mt Eden to watch the Sky Tower fireworks and the Harbour Bridge light show. As usual, they were a bit disappointing, but the vibe was great. I was staring out over the city close to midnight and admiring the night sky; even with all the lights of downtown Auckland, I was able to see Orion, Jupiter and Mars. It was a reflective but enjoyable evening.
I went to play badminton on New Year’s Day. After my foot injury in November, I was a bit rusty from a month off sports, and after playing almost nonstop for 90 minutes, my body began to shut down. With all the aching and tense muscles, my slipped disc triggered again, and I was in agony for two nights. Luckily I knew the stretches to do to alleviate the pain, but it would be another week before I’d be able to get a physio appointment. By that time, my pain had improved significantly and I was back to doing many of my daily activities without too much of an issue. No gym or badminton for a few weeks though. However, I did manage to do a "military grade" 3km obstacle course in Matakana as part of Sam's stag do, though I had to skip the 3m wall under orders from the physio. We were super filthy at the end of it, but it was really fun and the weather was fantastic that weekend. I rushed home to pick up dad to go to his wine club's annual general meeting which was being held on someone's property in Red Hills, and they had a bunch of alpacas and two fluffy cats that I played with.
I took dad out to Muriwai one night to try and spot the comet. Though the weather was too cloudy to spot it, it was still a beautiful place to hang out and watch the sunset. The gannets of course were all there, squawking loudly and returning from their evening fishing expedition. We tried again the next day, just by going down the road to the waterfront, but saw nothing.
Now I'm in Wellington, at an Airbnb a few doors down from one of the properties I used to live at - the one with Smudge, who has probably sadly passed away in the eight years I've been gone. The last time I was here, the city seemed pretty dead because many people hadn't returned to work yet; this time, it feels a bit more alive down Cuba Street and Willis Street, but it's awful to see the Central Library and council buildings still in a state of construction. Many of my old favourite restaurants have shut in the past few years, a result of a significant reduction in the government workforce and the state of the economy in general. Still, there's a sense of nostalgia and a triumphant homecoming; like I've spread my wings to see the world and I'm back to see where I started and honour the city that I called home for nine years. And it's odd, because I've been away for eight years now, but it doesn't seem as long as my time in Wellington.
It's been a busy weekend catching up with people and eating delicious food. Of course I went to Little Penang, and Auntie Tee recognised me after all these years. I went to the Sunday service at Central Baptist too and somehow volunteered myself for piano next weekend. There's a lot of new restaurants that my friends are taking me to over the next few days, and I'm really looking forward to connecting with all my old mates too.
Bon Any Nou!
Thursday January 4, 2024
Due to turbulence on the Toronto to Ponta Delgada flight, they ended up serving us dinner quite late, so I only managed a few hours of shut eye before the plane landed in the Azores. I rushed through immigration - it's a small airport and my transfer time of one hour was more than enough, and the immigration officer welcomed me into the Schengen without any fuss. I slept again on the leg to Barcelona, and landed just after 1pm. I had told Marc I was arriving on that day, at that time, and he texted me a few minutes before landing to say that I'd have to wait four hours for him to get home as he was taking his friend to Montserrat.
...
So I sat at the airport. Due to a miscommunication, Marc thought that he was going to pick me up from the terminal but I meant that I was going to wait at the airport until 5.30pm and then take the metro to his place and meet him there. As a result, we were only able to meet up at 6.30pm. I was tired and running on 4 hours of sleep, but Marc had a date to go to, so I ended up cooking dinner for myself and his friend from Chile, who was also staying with us for the next couple of weeks.
I struggled a bit with the jet lag, waking up for a few hours during the night and then sleeping from 5am to 11am. I felt lethargic during the day, and my efforts to adjust to the time zone were ruined by us going clubbing on Saturday night/Sunday morning. We went to this massive multi-room dance club called Razzmatazz, and hung out in the Pop Bar for most of the time. I would have been the fifth oldest person there, and I was surprised that they played songs I recognised - Spice Girls, Britney, Backstreet, even as far back as the Eurhythmics. I even danced a bit, especially when LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem came on. We left around 4am, passing by a xurreria where famed Catalan singer Rosalia had shot a music video.
On New Year's Eve, we headed out to Plaza Espaņa around 10.30pm. It was packed already, we found a spot on the main road leading towards the Magic Fountain. Due to the drought, the fountain wouldn't be operating, but a drone show with lights and fireworks was scheduled instead. And what a show it was! It was honestly the best New Year's celebration I've ever seen. The drones flew into formations of sea creatures as a reference to the America's Cup being held here later in the year, the fireworks were vibrant and spectacular, the music really lifted the mood in the crowd. Suddenly we heard four chimes of a bell, signalling the start of the Spanish tradition of eating one grape per second leading up to midnight, each grape successfully consumed granting good luck for each month ahead. I don't know how many I managed to stuff into my mouth, but on the stroke of midnight, the drones had flown into a series of horizontal rings and began to shoot sparks towards the ground. The show continued for another 10 minutes or so, with the drones continuing to morph into various shapes, at one time spelling out BARCELONA as the fireworks continued. As the main festivities died down, the crowd began to move slowly towards the exits, with the subway staying packed for a good hour or so afterwards. I lost sight of the other two, but I wanted to walk around and check out the vibe in the city. I would have gotten home around 2.15am.
On New Year's Day, Monday, we rushed to the Bunkers to catch the sunset. It was a lovely day with blue skies, not too cold. On the way down, we got into a heated argument about racism and exploitation of indigenous communities. A++ experience. On Tuesday, I got to explore the city by myself. I ran a few errands in the morning, but spent most of the day just walking around Plaza Catalunya and the Gran Via. On the way home, I stopped by Glories to pick up some groceries, as well as a damn chopping knife for the apartment since I'd been stuck using a steak knife to chop garlic for the past few days. On Wednesday, it was back to work, but since most people are still out, it's been quiet. The mornings are nice since no one else is awake, so I can get a lot done in preparation for the rest of the day. This Saturday is Epiphany and the Three Kings Parade will be on, and we'll be celebrating with Tortell de Reyes, a torus-shaped cake with a toy hidden inside - whoever gets the slice with the toy gets to wear a crown!
Wellington
Thursday January 26, 2023
I arrived back in Aotearoa New Zealand on Christmas Day, an emotional return to my homeland of thirty years. All through the last hour of the flight I had a Kiwiana playlist on repeat: Brooke Fraser, Nesian Mystik, Bic Runga and of course, Dave Dobbyn's Welcome Home. We circled around the Waitemata Harbour with Rangitoto and the Sky Tower in full view before touching down in Auckland International Airport. I was out within 30 minutes, a record time.
I spent Christmas Day in Pukekohe with the Palmers, then on Boxing Day, it was dad's turn to come back to New Zealand. I had a week of holidaying before I had to start work again, so I tried to catch up with as many people as I could. Quite a few fellow expats were back in the country too, it was great to reunite after all these years, even if we only lived 500km away from each other. The weather was absolutely stunning and I was lapping it up. I visited Auckland Grammar and the University of Auckland to see the new buildings that had been constructed in my absence. I spent New Years at Mat's house on the Shore, playing Loveletter and Rockband. There were brunches and fried chicken and desserts... and badminton too!
After New Years, the North Island was hit by two cyclones, bringing some inclement weather to Auckland. I flew to Wellington on the 6th of January, where the rain continued for that weekend, but a few days later, that beautiful scorching sun was back. I spent two weeks there, working from an Airbnb near the Embassy with my colleague Pete commuting in to work with me from the Official Crop Circle Games Wellington Office. Every day, I finished at 4pm and was able to enjoy the afternoons in the sun. The city hasn't changed much, physically, but friends have moved away or out of town, or they've got children and aren't able to hang out as much. But I really missed that Wellington lifestyle of living downtown, being able to walk around to all the good restaurants. I visited all my favourites and got to try some fantastic new ones as well. In fact, when I went to Little Penang, Uncle Keith recognised me and gave me a hug, it was truly wholesome and I was so interested to hear how he had been and how they had navigated the last few years. I saw friends I hadn't seen in six years, eight years, ten years, and each time, it felt like I hadn't been gone at all. Conversation flowed so naturally. So many people made the effort to come and see me as well, and for that I'm truly thankful.
I even made it to Zealandia, and was able to explore the vast expanse of greenery. What a great place - I wish I came here more often when I lived there. We saw some Tui, Kaka and Tuatara. I climbed Mt Vic, walked around Oriental Parade, had hot pot in Brooklyn, went for Spicy Food Thursday, played badminton and on my last day in the city, I even did an escape room about Atlantis. I had such a great time in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and I wish I could have stayed longer.
Costa Brava 2
Saturday January 1, 2022
Yesterday (New Year’s Eve) was a gloriously sunny day again, so we went to Calella de Palafrugell, yet another beautiful coastal town with magnificent clear aquamarine waters. It was decently busy with beach goers but we stuck to the coastal walk for the most part. The path used to be a patrol route in the times that they had to look out for marauding pirates but now it’s used by tourists to hike from one town to another. From the path you can see the full glory of the green hillside dotted with white houses with orange roofs.
For lunch, we headed to Doskiwis Brewery, owned by a couple of Kiwis. This was a recommendation by the New Zealanders I met in my last blog post, and both Marc and I were very impressed by the casual atmosphere of the outdoor dining area, as well as the quality of the food and drink. I had a good yarn with Mike, the owner, who was cooking, as well as his wife, who was inside handling the drinks.
We knew the restaurants would be closed over New Year’s so we stocked up at the supermarket and started driving to Far Sant Sebastia, one of Catalonia’s best sunset spots. However, after passing through Pal, we noticed a massive cloud coming in from the coast, shrouding the entire area in dark fog. We quickly reevaluated and turned around, heading north back to L’Estartit where the fog hadn’t reached. We managed to find a small park on the hillside leading up to Castell del Montgri to watch the final sunset of 2021.
After cooking dinner, we watched the festivities around the world and start preparing our own. The Spanish have a tradition where you eat a grape every second for 12 seconds to welcome in the New Year. Each grape gives you good luck for each month of the coming year, and it’s a hugely popular practice for all Spaniards wherever they are celebrating in the world, and this is even a tradition that my Mexican friend practices too! There’s a very particular way it’s presented on television, so I was sure to follow the instructions carefully, lest 2022 be another year of awfulness. We finished the night with some Catalonian sparkling wine, cava!
2021 for the most part has been mediocre. It’s had its highs and lows, and the fact that we still haven’t really beaten COVID19 is worrying. I’ve been quite anxious about the state of the pandemic but thankful that Canada’s rollout of the vaccine and the subsequent booster was swift, even if it was horribly disorganised and chaotic. The chance to travel to Europe, as well as Banff and Jasper earlier in the year, has been a huge boost to my mental health and general outlook on life, despite the complications of doing so. I’m hoping to go back to New Zealand to visit my family sometime this year, it’s been too long, and every expat I’ve talked to has lamented the managed quarantine rules that the country put into place. If not New Zealand, then hopefully Malaysia to see my relatives there. It’s too difficult to plan so far in advance though, so we’ll just have to see how this pandemic works out.
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.
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.
2017
Sunday January 1, 2017
2017 is finally upon us. What a year it's going to be for me! In just over three weeks, I'll be starting my Big O.E. with the first leg of my journey from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur.
The past year has been good for me. I'm very proud of Doomsday Clicker and the financial success that it's brought PikPok. It's been a fun project to work on, and exudes the signature polish and gorgeous art style that PikPok games have. It's got that quirkiness and humour, and those systems have been fun to write. I took on a greater role in recruitment and we hired some cool people over the course of the year - some of whom I won't actually get to work with! I leave PikPok with my head held high, knowing I've made a positive impact on the company and proud of what I've achieved in my nine years there.
I got to see the Final Fantasy A New World Concert in Melbourne, and almost exactly a year later, I will be seeing the Final Fantasy Distant Worlds concert. I walked Lake Waikaremoana and barely survived with a bung knee. I went to five weddings, played piano at one of them and was a groomsman at another. We saw the end of Strawberry Fare, but went hard with Wellington on a Plate. There was Little Penang's fifth birthday, mooncake festival, hot pot, yum cha, late night trips to see the glorious night sky, badminton, squash, crocodile biking, and of course, karaoke. There was Pokemon Go and the ensuing hilarity of me being interviewed by the NZ Herald and Flava, and scoring a mention on TV3's Seven Days.
2016 has been pretty memorable for me and it'll go down as a pretty crazy year.
I've been spending the last week catching up with family and friends. Jules, Mana and I did the drive from Wellington to Auckland on Christmas Eve without any incidents. Christmas was spent in Waiuku on my sister's in-law's farm with loads of food and presents for the nine children in attendance! On Boxing Day, I bought myself a new laptop (that I'm currently using to type all this up) and spent the rest of the day on the North Shore at Mat's house with the Pokemon Gang. On Tuesday, I took James and Navi around Auckland for a whirlwind tour, visiting Western Springs, Giapo and the waterfront to check out the massive cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas. On Wednesday, I met Jono and Charlotte for yum cha at Sun World, then Jordan, Tessa and Mana for Korean food and some arcade games. It was my sister's birthday on Thursday and we had lunch at Carriages Cafe in Kumeu, then I was back in town for Bryce's stag do. We had dinner at Elliot Stables, then did an escape room and had drinks at Dr Rudi's in the viaduct. Friday I had dinner with Mel, Jarrod, Jono and Charlotte at At Bangkok, then dessert at Ollie's, and then on New Year's Eve, I was out in Cockle Bay with Jono and Charlotte again.
I've even found time to go to the gym while I've been up here. It's nice to be relaxed enough that I can sort out all my travel plans and organise things for the trip, and fit in time to catch up with people, eat delicious food, and lift some weights.
Here's to 2017 and the surprises it will bring me.
It's Cold
Monday January 4, 2016
Happy New Year - it's 2016! I'm finally back in Wellington after a long miserable 8 hour drive through very wet roads and chaotic traffic down State Highway 1. Of course, the first thing that greeted me when I got home was some jerk parked in my car park, so I wasn't particularly happy about that. Turns out he's in Japan for a few weeks and I can park in another car park for the time being. Lucky for him, or I would have towed his ass out of there so fast.
Over the past couple of weeks, I got to catch up with heaps of people. There was never really a dull day, I was always out meeting up for lunch or dinner, or if I had some spare time, I'd even go to the gym. There was yum cha and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I was back at Milse and Giapo, and went to Nol Bu Ne and Shao Lin Kung Fu Noodle. New Years itself was spent with my school mates on top of Mt Victoria in Davenport watching some very disappointing fireworks on the Sky Tower. It looked like someone was just running around the rim shooting off Roman Candles. We were too busy watching the fireworks being let off on the mount that we missed the end of the Sky Tower ones... and there was no big finale either. Lame!
Work tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.
