Southbound
Sunday November 12, 2023
This year, I’m not flying south to spend the winter. Instead, I’m flying south for only two weeks, to four new countries, to explore some of the most beautiful parts of South America. Our first stop is Panama for a seven hour layover, where we’ll go see the canal and grab some food before getting back on the plane to Buenos Aires. I’ve been preparing for this trip for a while, and it’s required a lot of planning and organisation. I’ve been learning some rudimentary Spanish too - this’ll help me for this trip and hopefully my three months in Barcelona too.
The last few months have been incredibly busy. Our trip to Newfoundland was amazing, with a gruelling eight hour hike up and down Gros Morne, as well as a sneaky visit to the town of Dildo. Our trip to Kawartha Lakes for Thanksgiving was less amazing. We were supposed to go kayaking on the Sunday but due to rough conditions and the inexperience of the group in general, the rental company asked us to cancel the excursion but wouldn’t refund us. Instead they offered us a 50% discount on the next trip, which means we’d have to drive back out to take advantage of it. We did see some nice fall colours on the Trans Canada Hiking Trail, and some spectacular salmon jumps at Port Hope, but a few things went wrong that weekend and it was mildly frustrating.
Work has also been busy, with several difficult technical problems to solve. We’ve got a new programmer starting while I’m away, and I’m hoping that’ll alleviate some of our challenges. The industry is in a state of volatility at the moment, with thousands of layoffs happening all over the place. 2024 will probably be much of the same. I’m just glad my job is safe and I’m constantly reassured by our CEO that Prytania is going to be fine.
I went to the CNE this year with Hardeep. It was a welcome return to Exhibition Place, and the air show had been buzzing around Toronto skies a few days prior. The dog show was hilarious and adorable at the same time, and it was video games themed, so extra special. The food was as expected - expensive and nothing to write home about, but the most surprising experience was the audio sensory light exhibit in a dark room. It was a kaleidoscope of colourful patterns and fractals and geometry with a gentle soundtrack to accompany. A couple of weeks later, I tried to show him the salmon run on the Humber River, but we saw nothing. Instead, we went for dumplings in Chinatown and then went kayaking around the Toronto Islands. At night, we wandered around the city for Nuit Blanche, but nothing was notable.
I was at Hemingways with Emilio for the Rugby World Cup final, New Zealand versus South Africa. There were a lot of Springboks supporters, but there were a lot of black jerseys around as well. The atmosphere was fun and jovial, with a few “chaaa hooo!”s throughout the game, but alas, it wasn’t the result that the we were hoping for. Has to feel a bit bad for Sam Cane too. As soon as the final whistle blew, I was out of there.
Emotionally, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster too, with ups and downs. We had to cancel our work trip to Los Angeles because of the hotel workers’ strike. The darker days have forced me to bring out my sun lamp, to force my brain to start making the happy chemicals. We haven’t gotten our first snowfall yet, but after I get back from South America, it’ll only be a month until Christmas!
Posted by Jeremy at 1:03am on Sunday November 12, 2023 :: 0 comments :: 
Big Weekends
Sunday November 1, 2015
For Labour Weekend last week, my schoolmates and I made our way to Queenstown to do the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand's nine great walks. Leaving Wellington on the Friday, at an absurdly early hour and in grey, dreary skies, I took the 90 minute flight to the South Island where I was greeted with a somewhat chilly breeze but glorious blue skies and snow capped peaks around the city. I met Tom at the backpackers and we did our grocery shopping for the hike, as well as grabbing some Fergburger, naturally. We met Mat in the afternoon and got some pizza from The Cow on Cow Lane, and retired for the night.
Will, Richard and Tanya arrived in the morning and after sorting out our belongings, we headed into town to get some hut passes from DOC. However, they advised us that there were increased avalanche warnings for the Routeburn, and for a moment we were almost uncertain about whether we should continue. Some reassurance from the transport company gave us the confidence to stick to the Routeburn instead of doing the Greenstone/Caples and we were off to Glenorchy to begin the hike.
The first day takes you from the end of Routeburn Road in Glenorchy to the Routeburn Flats Hut over 90 minutes and 6.5km. The walk is through forest over several rivers and streamlets, finishing at a wide grassy expanse in the middle of a valley. Another 90 minutes and 2.3km up a steep incline leads you to the Routeburn Falls Hut, our accommodation for the first night. We're lucky that the flushing toilets are operational as we are technically outside the Great Walk season, and we take a break, cook up a stir-fry for dinner, and relax for the night by playing some games of Love Letter. It's a nervous time for us as we have no way of finding out the result of the All Blacks vs South Africa semi-final the next day...
Thankfully, the roaming DOC Ranger comes to our rescue and radios for the score. Success! 20 - 18 to the All Blacks. Satisfied, we continue our second day of the Routeburn. The track today leads us from the Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Harris and the Harris Saddle, the highest point of the track, then down to the Lake Mackenzie Hut for a total of 5 hours walking. The walk to Harris Saddle is steep and rocky, with patches of snow and ice blocking some parts of the path. The scenery is breathtaking - the vastness of the Routeburn Valley, the serenity of Lake Harris as it sits at the foot of snow-capped mountains, the colours and vibrancy of the terrain and flora around us. We stop for lunch at the Harris Saddle and decide to climb Conical Hill, but quickly abandon the idea about 200m up the mountainside as it is too icy to continue. We continue on through the Hollyford Valley to Lake Mackenzie and stop for the night at the huts there. Dinner that night is pasta with bacon and kransky sausages. It is a cold night because the sky is crystal clear, but unfortunately the moon is near full so it is too bright to do some proper stargazing. Nevertheless, the Dutch and French visitors are impressed with my astronomy ramblings as I show them Scorpio, Sagittarius, Saturn and the Southern Cross in full glory.
Our final day takes us from the Lake Mackenzie Huts to the Howden Hut, Key Summit and the Divide - the end of the Routeburn Track sits on the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound. The walk to Howden Hut takes us three hours over 8.6km through mostly bush, but through some avalanche risk areas. On the way, we pass by the Earland Falls (174m) and see a kea and a kereru! From Howden Hut, it is a short but very steep climb to the base of Key Summit, a side track which offers views of the Darran Mountains and Hollyford Valley, and we stop for lunch at a sheltered location away from the strong winds. It is only a short hour and 3.4km to the Divide, and just like that, we've completed the Routeburn Track.
I cannot describe just how spectacular the scenery is. Every photo is postcard quality. We were so fortunate with the weather too - forecasts had said there were going to be heavy showers over the track for the second and third day, increasing the chance of avalanches, but there were none - just calm breezes and blue skies - at most, cloudy patches. My legs were quite iffy at times, but we could have easily taken it slower. It is a well worthwhile hike and it is not hard to see why it's been labelled a Great Walk.
I was back at work on the Wednesday, still a little broken after the big walk, but the week was short and soon it was Friday. There were some sudden surprises to battle late in the afternoon, but thankfully that resolved itself quickly and we were able to relax with a rocking 2.5 hour karaoke session at K Zone! Saturday was pretty busy too, with badminton in the morning and Chloe and Fraser's barbeque in the afternoon. I was feeling sorry for myself after gym (do not go to the gym after drinking) and didn't feel like cooking, so I met Navi, her friend Michael, Jordan and Tim at Tequila Joe's for food, and happened to bump into Phil and Alanna there too. It was a good night, and we decided to leave early (11pm) because I would be getting up early for the big game the next day.
And what a game it was. At 4.30am I was somewhat dazed and incapable of functioning properly, but I managed to get into the car and drive to D4 on Featherston Street with Will and Alanna. The bar was packed full of supporters in black, and what a rousing atmosphere. The chills down the spine as the New Zealand Anthem was played, that solidarity as we watched the All Blacks doing the haka - so full of raw emotion for some of these guys who are playing for the last time in the black jersey. There was jubilation and fist pumping and cheering as we scored first blood, then there was Dan Carter's bulls-eye penalty kicking and Ma'a Nonu's amazing try, but the feeling of joy subsided as the Australians clawed back while Ben Smith was sinbinned. The gap is down to 4 points and the score is 21 - 17 to the All Blacks, a very unsafe margin.
But like a godsend, Dan Carter punts the most beautiful drop goal in the 70th minute, sailing right through the center of the posts and giving us a 7 point lead. Soon after, a penalty kick off Carter's magic boot puts us at a safe 10 point lead with 7 minutes to go. Not content with this, the All Blacks hit the nail in the coffin of the Australians with a converted try from Beauden Barret in the final stages of the match, giving New Zealand a 34 - 17 victory over our adversaries, and with it, the Rugby World Cup for 2015. We are the first nation to have the cup for three times and the first to successfully defend it. What a game. D4 erupts into deafening roar of celebration and we're jumping in the air and singing Queen's We Are The Champions. There is rapturous applause during the medal ceremony for the All Blacks who retire on the highest possible accolade for their sport, for the captain, Richie McCawesome, and for the man of the match, Dan Carter. They've done the country proud.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:06am on Sunday November 1, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
More Overtime
Monday October 19, 2015
We thought we'd heard the last of it, but we were required to do submit another build within 24 hours - totally not stressful at all - on Thursday. We got bounced twice before the damn thing went through processing late on Saturday, and then today we received the good news that we were all good to go.
My weekend was pretty quiet. I got to have the WOAP burger from Grill Meats Beer a second time on Friday, then had regular badminton on Saturday, and went into work for a couple of hours with Mana. We went out to Lyall Bay's shopping area to grab some gloves for the gym and hiking shoes for the Routeburn that I'm doing this Labour weekend, and we met up again for a play called Bubblelands at the BATS theatre. A friend of mine, Ben, has been touring around the North Island, starring in this play as a crayfish who meets a blue cod in the aquarium of a Chinese restaurant. Good stuff! We had dinner at Cha and dessert at Strawberry Fare.
I was up early and off to watch the second half of the NZ vs France rugby quarterfinals with Will and Alanna at their place. I was too nervous to front up for the first half, but once I saw the score at half time, I was quite relieved and happy to enjoy the remainder of the match. The weather for Sunday was clear, but very windy; I tried to get a crew out to watch the Orionids meteor shower at Owhiro Bay but alas no one was keen. Today, however, I managed to get Mana, Loic and Dana along for an hour. Despite the wind and brightness of the moon, our patience was rewarded with a brilliant streak of light heading southwards across the sky - magnificent!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:43am on Monday October 19, 2015 :: 0 comments ::
A Weekend of Sport
Monday August 6, 2012
I think the last time I crammed so much sport into one weekend was the Rugby World Cup. Though I missed the start of New Zealand's golden run in the rowing on Thursday night with Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan, I caught our two-golds-one-hour on Friday night over at the Treehouse. And what an amazing hour - the excitement of seeing Hamish Bond and Eric Murray completely obliterate their opponents, then Mahe Drysdale finally obtaining his elusive gold after the bronze four years earlier in Beijing was totally exhilarating; congratulations to them all!
On Saturday we caught the Chiefs vs Sharks game at Four Kings, while simultaneously watching the women's triathlon and further rowing events. The atmosphere there was great, with so much joviality and passion for the rugby. So much fun! I caught the rest of the rowing including Storm Uru and Peter Taylor taking bronze for the lightweight double sculls over at LBQ, who were celebrating their birthday with free drinks and delicious cake. It was a relatively early night for me though because I was rostered on music for church on Sunday. Music went very well, including an epic finale to Great is the Lord, He is Holy and Just - we don't sing the coda because it's very difficult, but on Sunday we decided we'd play it anyway, and it was such an awesome crescendo and build up to the end that we surprised the congregation and earned a round of applause!
After a delicious yum cha at Big Thumb (despite it being in receivership...), it was a quiet afternoon and dinner, before heading to the Treehouse to catch a bit of the men's hockey and the cycling omnium with some scrumptious lemon meringue and gingernut. What a weekend.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:27am on Monday August 6, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
World Cup Finals
Sunday October 23, 2011
It's a sunny and peaceful Monday morning, the morning after the Rugby World Cup 2011 finals match. I think the nation sighed a collective sigh of relief last night, which erupted into jubilance and excitement as thousands of people streamed onto the city streets, partying loud and hard into the early hours of the morning - some probably still going as I type. It was amazing.
The day started out kinda poorly for me. I was aiming to get to church but I've been sniffly for the past few days and wasn't feeling great at all. I was quite lethargic throughout the afternoon, but had enough energy to beat the last boss in Final Fantasy X-2 (and no, the story isn't over, it's New Game+ time!). I was about to doze off for a nap before hitting the fanzone when Jono texted, trying to arrange some board games before meeting up. We ended up playing Forbidden Island for a while before donning our black attire and heading into town.
Our original plan was to try and get a table at Mac's Brewery but it seems a lot of other people had the same idea. We eventually settled for Electric Avenue - cheap food, cheap drinks, a table right in front of the TV and direct access to Courtenay Place for the ensuing mayhem - if we win then that's great, if we lose, then we can go looting, said Jono. We killed around three hours there, eating and playing card games. By the time 8.30pm rolled about, the bar was packed and we knew the atmosphere was going to be awesome.
I remember seeing aerial footage of the All Blacks bus arriving at Eden Park, and hundreds of people lining the streets to cheer the All Blacks on. As the team stood in the corridor, waiting to enter the field, everyone began applauding and cheering. Despite being so far from the action, we all knew that our hearts were there with everyone at Eden Park, united in spirit to cheer on the All Blacks. We all joined in with our voices as the national anthem played, and again the emphatic applause and cheering after the haka. Who could have realised what a thrilling game was ahead...
Emotions ran high and low throughout the game. We celebrated our only try. We anguished over Cruden's injury. We gasped in terror as Dusautoir crossed the line. I'm pretty sure I was close to this around 70 minutes:
(╯□）╯︵ ┻━┻
As the clock continued ticking, we held on to hope that we'd be able to defend just that bit longer. A score of 8 - 7 to the All Blacks could have easily become 10 - 8 to France if they got close enough for a dropgoal or if they got a penalty.
At five minutes to go, the crowd at Electric Avenue began chanting, willing the All Blacks to keep their defense strong. Anxiety was slightly relieved as we turned the ball over and began an attack on the French. With ten seconds on the clock to go, I started a countdown, to be joined by everyone around me, everyone holding their breath and waiting for that last play to finish. At the final whistle, a thunderous roar of approval echoed through the room as we celebrated a close win over the French. People jumped and threw their hands up in the air, we screamed and shouted and high-fived. We hugged and fist-pumped. It's been 24 long years and 2011 is the new 1987.
The same enthusiastic applause and cheering continued while the presentation began, with the volume peaking when Richie McCaw, Piri Weepu, Dan Carter and Graham Henry all received their medals. As Richie took center stage, the whole country must have risen to their feet and yelled in approval as he lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in victory.
We took to Courtenay Place shortly after, joining thousands of people arriving from all over the city to sing and dance and shout. Crowds had gathered around drummers and street musicians. People were still proudly waving their black flags and banners of support. I've never seen so many people in Wellington (probably because I don't go out for the Sevens Weekend). What an awesome night. Gallery pictures available here. Congratulations to the All Blacks - you've done the country proud.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:20pm on Sunday October 23, 2011 :: 1 comment ::
A World of Real Emotion
Sunday September 25, 2011
Yesterday I completed Final Fantasy X after spending 141 hours on it. I defeated Penance and Nemesis, maxed almost all my stats and got all the Celestial Weapons, Crests and Sigils (I hate you, Chocobo Races). The ending was still as poignant and emotional as it was when I played FFX 10 years ago.
My strategy for Penance:
- I used Yuna, Kimahri and Rikku. Using Yuna was a mistake because Nirvana deals damage based on her MP and Penance's Immolation attack does heavy MP damage. I should have used someone with Counter Attack, like Auron.
- Rikku and Yuna had Dispel and Quick Pockets, Rikku and Kimahri had Use. All three had Quick Hit.
- Everyone had max stats except for Luck, and HP above 50000. Luck was at 89.
- Yuna's armour had Break HP Limit, Auto Haste, Auto Protect and Ribbon. Kimahri and Rikku had Break HP Limit, Auto Haste, Auto Protect and Auto Potion.
- When the battle started, Rikku Mixed Ultra NulAll, which additionally provides the effect of five Cheers, reducing physical damage from Obliteration. The next turn, she used Three Stars to reduce the party's MP cost to zero. All this time, Kimahri and Yuna Quick Hit the arms to prevent them from attacking. During the entire battle, the only time the arms got to attack was once when the Left Arm cast Slowga, which Auto Haste protects against.
- When my HP got low, Rikku's Overdrive (Comrade mode) had already recharged, so I Mixed Trio of 9999, which lets Potions heal for 9999. I Quick Pocket some Mega Potions with Yuna and get Rikku to use a Stamina Tonic to boost the party's HP to 99999.
- While there are no arms, I attacked the main body. After three million HP, Penance loses its tail and gains Haste which I dispelled using a Purifying Salt.
- In its new form, Penance uses Immolation which deals around 7000 damage with Ultra NulAll and Protect, but also causes Full Break and 999MP damage. I got Yuna to cast Dispel on the affected character and continue Quick Hitting the arms or the body as necessary.
- When Rikku and Kimahri dropped below 50000 HP, Auto Potion triggered for 9999 HP recovery, meaning Immolation can never kill them as long as Full Break is dispelled.
- When Yuna drops below 50000 HP, I get her to Quick Pocket some Potions or Mega Potions to heal the whole party. Occasionally I give her a Turbo Ether so she can cause 99999 damage with Quick Hit, but generally you can just keep her hitting the arms.
- Immolation triggers Kimahri's Counter Attack, so I get a free 99999 damage every so often.
- Eventually after a total of 12 million HP damage, you get this:
Anyway, I managed to catch the All Blacks vs France game as well. Fantastic game, though a bit of a nervous start. Congratulations to Richie McCaw on his 100th game for the All Blacks, and hopefully he can lead us to victory.
We better bloody win.
And finally, today I went to see the Lion King in 3D. The 3D was not intrusive or overly noticeable at times, which was great, but more importantly, all the things which makes the Lion King so awesome remained intact. The magnificent score, the songs, the humour, the dialogue... amazing. Brought a tear to my eye :P
So now that FFX is done and dusted... I guess it's time to get my X-2 on. What can I do for you!?
Posted by Jeremy at 1:07am on Sunday September 25, 2011 :: 2 comments ::
Rugby World Cup
Friday September 9, 2011
So yeah, okay, blog post mentioning the World Cup. My wall on Facebook is filled with RWC-related hate and excitement, and it was abuzz about it even before the opening ceremony had started. I saw bits of the fireworks on television last night - they looked really amazing and I wish I was there to see it live. I did, however, catch the game against Tonga and luckily, started watching just before the hakas began. I've never seen the country this patriotic before, and you can definitely feel the hype in the air as you walk through town. I think the atmosphere will be amazing if we win - and I really hope we do.
In slightly related news, Sidhe's Rugby Challenge game hit the stores a few weeks ago and we've topped the New Zealand games charts. I wasn't on the development team for it, but I did make this nifty database exporter tool that they used. Yay. We had a launch party celebrating its release last week, with many of my ex-colleagues turning up for what was a fantastic night, and on Thursday, we got our own Rugby Challenge t-shirts. The Latin phrase "durum candidumque domi ludit" is written on the front, and it means "playing hard and fair at home".
Work has been tough for me lately. I spent a few late nights last week trying to wrap up some features and bugs. The end is in sight though, and I think we can make next Friday's deadline, though it depends on whether the company that we're doing this for can get their act together and deliver the final bits of information to us. The game will be our first social game on iOS and I'll be the first to let you know when you can download it.
Badminton time!
Posted by Jeremy at 9:00pm on Friday September 9, 2011 :: 0 comments ::
Sevens Weekend
Wednesday February 10, 2010
Last weekend was the famous Wellington Rugby Sevens tournament, so of course the city was buzzing with lunatics in crazy costumes and whatnot - fortunately I boarded myself up at home like the antisocial programmer I am, and had a quiet weekend.
Best Sevens costume I saw:
It almost felt like summer on Sunday, so we went up to beach at Waikanae and had a jumping good time.
In other news, Flick Kick Field Goal, which is an American Football-themed version of Flick Kick Rugby and Aussie Rules was put on the free app list to coincide with the Super Bowl in the United States. Downloads skyrocketed, with the game reaching #2 in both the US and New Zealand top free apps! That's the one where I'm listed as the only programmer ^_^
Posted by Jeremy at 9:12am on Wednesday February 10, 2010 :: 1 comment ::
Sidhe's Latest iPhone Games!
Thursday November 26, 2009
Introducing FlickKick Rugby and FlickKick Aussie Rules, the latest in Sidhe's iPhone lineup under the brand PikPok!
Yes you will find my name there under the credits. I made a small contribution in programming the camera (i.e., the field of view, the ball tracking, etc) as well as other miscellaneous bug fixes. Download it from AppStore for NZ$2.59 or US$1.99
 FlickKick Rugby |  FlickKick Aussie Rules |
Posted by Jeremy at 9:06am on Thursday November 26, 2009 :: 2 comments ::