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 :: 
Four Months
Tuesday November 21, 2017
Oh, hi.
I've been here for almost four months now, getting back into routine and doing all those regular mundane things that I never really had the inspiration to write about. I'm pretty much settled in, I've recovered from an injury I sustained while playing badminton, and I've started going back to the gym. The gym in my condo is basic, but as I'm still trying to regain all the strength I've lost in the past ten months, it's good enough. Badminton is now a regular thing too! Also, I've found a church to go to, and I've already started playing piano for Sunday services.
Work is going well. We hit a milestone last week, so there was a mad rush to get a bunch of things in to the build before it was sent off to Paris for review. I'm becoming more familiar with things and I'm gaining confidence as I traverse the codebase. It's still massive, and I'll probably never fully understand its structure, but at least I'm making progress.
Winter is rolling in. It's getting colder and it even snowed last week, which was great for about five minutes, and then my face started hurting. I know, layers, etc. I'll be fine. My walk to work is only five minutes. Hopefully it doesn't get cold enough that I'll develop frostbite in the time it takes me to get from my condo to the office.
I do think about home a lot and the life I had in Wellington. I really miss Little Penang. It's sometimes lonely here, and when I'm by myself, I think a lot. It fluctuates between self-doubt and disbelief - it still amazes me that I actually migrated halfway around the world to a foreign country to live and work. I wonder how people back home are doing, and I wonder about my other friends who left New Zealand and how they're coping. I honestly thought I'd be doing better than this, but some of it is impatience too - I want things to be "the way they were", and I often forget it took me nine years to build up that lifestyle in Wellington, yet I've only been here for four months. I've always been - and probably always will be - an introvert. I find it hard to talk to people I don't know, or socialise at parties or bars or clubs. I find it hard to meet new people and strike up a random conversation without any context.
I guess it's a good time to learn, huh?
Posted by Jeremy at 5:39am on Tuesday November 21, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
A Month In
Friday September 8, 2017
It's been just over a month since I arrived in Canada. The weather is starting to cool - quite dramatically, I might add - and it's a sure sign that winter is on its way. I've moved into my new apartment and assembled all my Ikea furniture with the help of some awesome friends. There's been some hiccups with the bank and Internet and mobile phone bills and all that, but I think most of it has resolved itself, and for the first time in 7 months, I'm not living out of a suitcase. I'm back to cooking as well, and it feels really good.
Work is challenging but I'm soldiering on. It's a difficult engine to get used to, mostly at the moment because of its size. It's hard to know who to ask for help, especially during busy times. I've got a regular Friday lunch crew, and a Pokemon Go crew too, so things are looking up.
I've spent the last wee while making an interactive map of my travels using Google's My Maps feature. It's pretty amazing, and you can see how much of Europe I covered; and despite all of that, I still missed out on places like Croatia, Greece and Turkey.
I did some shopping last weekend with Chi, wandering around Chinatown and then deciding to go to the big Asian supermarket to the east of town. We went to the Canadian National Exhibition the next day, and went on as many rides as we could. I was not particularly happy about one of them, and ended up feeling quite miserable after being suspended upside down multiple times. This weekend, there's supposed to be yum cha!
Posted by Jeremy at 2:59am on Friday September 8, 2017 :: 0 comments ::
Settling In
Saturday August 5, 2017
I've adulted pretty hard this week. Ubisoft's been really great with helping me relocate; all the people they've put me in touch with have been amazingly kind and helpful in getting me sorted. I got my social insurance number, a bank account with debit card and a mobile phone SIM card already; I viewed some properties and submitted an application to rent.
Today I got an email from the real estate agent saying my application had been successful and that to secure the property, I needed to make a deposit with a certified cheque within the next 24 hours.
Cheque.
Everything else has been so smooth and easy, but banking seems horribly backwards if you're still operating with paper cheques. I begrudgingly hot-tailed it to the bank 15 minutes before closing time to pick up a chequebook, then walked to the real estate agent's office in the pouring rain to write out the cheque and hand it to them.
It then occurred to me I had no idea how to write a cheque. Why would I? I've never needed to use one. The receptionist didn't know either; she went to find someone who did. Anyway, after sorting all that out, I handed over the cheque and went to grab some food, again, in the pouring rain.
On the way, I got an email from the real estate agent saying the cheque wasn't certified, which is where the bank certifies it to say I have sufficient funds in my account. Given that the bank is closed now and that it isn't open over the weekend, I'm not really sure how to progress from here.
Why is this so unnecessarily complicated. Adulting is hard. I miss New Zealand's wonderful cashless society.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:21am on Saturday August 5, 2017 :: 1 comment ::
London: The Finale
Monday July 31, 2017
This is it. The final few minutes in London.
I managed to catch up with Jono and Charlotte before I left, which was good, considering Charlotte's based in Oxford. We had a barbeque in the rain out at Jono's flat, which I'm told is a very British thing to do. I admire the British resilience when it comes to weather, but I suppose they do have to make the most of summer while it lasts.
On Sunday, I went for a bike ride with Aaron around Teddington and up to Ham House, where we stopped at the cafe for tea and scones with clotted cream and jam. Clotted cream is exactly that - cream so thick that it will clot your arteries. I found it quite sweet and perhaps a bit sickening.
My final dinner was spent with Theo in Hammersmith at a random Italian restaurant. We walked down to the Thames and followed it back to Chiswick where we parted ways.
It's strange. I'm excited and nervous, moreso that when I left New Zealand. I'm actually going for work now, as opposed to going for a holiday. It's getting real. I'll have to find a place to rent, sort out utilities, get a SIM card, pay tax - all those adult things. I'm going to work for an amazing company at what is only my second job. It's a big life-changing moment for me but I'm looking forward to it.
Posted by Jeremy at 1:23pm on Monday July 31, 2017 :: 0 comments ::