Wrapping up for Christmas
Sunday December 23, 2012
We had a game pitching session at the start of the month in the hopes we'd be able to generate some ideas for a Game Jam session in the last week of the year. Thanks to some quick last minute work by Jimmy, I put forward a pitch for an idea that had been festering for a few years. From the 19 pitches that were presented, 9 were chosen by senior management to go through as prototype candidates for Game Jam, mine included!
The great thing about the format of Game Jam this year is that everyone voted for pitches that they wanted to play and wanted to work on, and then everyone was assigned to a team they voted for. Having the initial buy-in meant that each team was passionate about the idea and were motivated to do they best they could. It works in a similar way at Facebook and Valve, I believe; you recruit your coworkers by marketing your idea and if they are interested, they'll join your project team.
In any case, what my team achieved in a single week was phenomenal, and indeed the other 8 prototypes were absolutely stunning as well. There was a great sense of camaraderie and appreciation for the amazing amount of talent the company has, and it was truly a wonderful way to end the year. I had a lot of fun in this past week, and we will be eagerly waiting to see which games make it to fu production next year.
In celebration we had some food and drinks at the Fork and Brewer on Friday night, and then the last badminton for the year on Saturday morning. In the afternoon I cleaned all the things and scurried off to the airport for the last flight to Auckland.
Ironically the Metservice has forecast rain for the next 10 days in Auckland, while Wellington gets a better forecast next week. Sure enough it rained a bit today, but that didn't dampen plans to play DotA2 and meet up with my workmates for some delicious Peking Duck at Sun World, and a few drinks at the Cock and Bull to end a great night.
Holidays are awesome.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:22am on Sunday December 23, 2012 :: 0 comments :: 
Labour Weekend and Tatsumi
Saturday December 8, 2012
I've been meaning to write this up for some time but immediately after Labour Weekend, it was just full on work to get DreamWorks Dash n Drop out on the App Store. And we did it, and it was great, yaaay. More on this in another blog post...maybe.
I had a good Labour Weekend. I finally got to visit my friend Deanna's famous Moustache Milk and Cookie Bar, and I came away with four delicious cookies to share with my family. I met up with the old Grammar gang in Mt Eden for a nice lunch. I even got to play some badminton with Julia and Steven! Of course I got to catch up with family - my adorable nephew had just started walking and was even saying a few words! So cute.
I also had a mind-blowing culinary experience at a restaurant called Tatsumi. My parents had been raving about how good this place is ever since they had a 10 course degustation there. I just had to try it. I said I'd take them there for a meal over Labour Weekend and my stepmum gleefully made all the necessary arrangements. Tatsumi is on Davis Crescent, just near the intersection of Khyber Pass and Broadway. Originally from Christchurch, their premises were struck by the earthquake and condemned, forcing them to relocate to Auckland. They describe themselves as "European-inspired Japanese fusion style" and you'll certainly see how the food at Tatsumi has been so masterfully crafted to bring together these two cuisines to create something rich and absolutely delicious.
Since my parents had already sampled the degustation, they decided to go a la carte. I, on the other hand, was ready for a 10 course meal.
10 Course Degustation
- Tempura Oyster
- Chef's Choice of Assorted Appetisers
- Variety of Sashimi
- Tempura Soft Shelled Crab Salad
- Crispy Skin Salmon Teriyaki
- Braised Pork Belly
- Scampi Miso Soup
- Assorted Nigiri Sushi
- Passionfruit Sorbet
- Green Tea Fondant
It was so good.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:46pm on Saturday December 8, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
The Duck
Sunday October 14, 2012
In French, this is "Le Canard", and in Wellington, this is a little restaurant near New World Thorndon. Last Saturday, Jo and Alice (who were down for World of Wearable Art) booked a table for the three of us.
Though the day had started off with some brilliant sunshine, it was typically Wellington by dinnertime - cold, wet, windy. Somehow this did not deter the group of protesters who had gathered outside Le Canard to voice their disdain at the foie gras on the menu. According to the waiter there, they're quite regular. I was tempted to try it just out of morbid curiosity, but instead we chose the less controversial escargot for one starter, and the crab cake and crayfish jelly with smoked softboiled egg for the other. Though the escargot were delicious, they do not compare to the garlic and herb-smothered escargot from St Tropez, formerly in Parnell, Auckland, currently closed. The snails were served in a crispy potato chimney with spinach foam, spinach puree and bacon bits; the egg sat atop the crab cake rather ornately - a rich, golden interior with all the familiar sea flavours from the seafood underneath.
For mains, I chose the "platter of pig": pork crackling on lentils, pork belly, mince pork croquette, and black pudding wrapped in bacon. The dish was hearty and filling - the crackling so light and fluffy it was like popcorn; the black pudding was deliciously rich and wrapped in tasty bacon. Alice had the duck confit and Jo (still recovering from a bout of food poisoning) had the venison.
Finally for dessert, we decided to share the assorted platter: creme brulee, rhubarb meringue and profiteroles. Though each was exquisite in its own way, the rhubarb meringue was my favourite. I thought that the creme brulee from Boulcott St Bistro was better though. The profiteroles were masterfully structured to match the restaurant's name - an ice cream base to give a solid foundation, then cream and choux pastry in the shape of a duck. Deliciously cute.
All in all, an excellent meal, made much more affordable with the Entertainment Gold Card. They get bonus points for complementing my French speaking skills. Would definitely eat there again. Maybe I should try that foie gras...
Posted by Jeremy at 8:52am on Sunday October 14, 2012 :: 4 comments ::
Mooncakes
Monday September 24, 2012
It's that time of the year again. That one where my inner child squeals in delight as all the Asian supermarkets begin stocking all sorts of delicious mooncakes - white lotus, red bean, pandan and durian, in one yolk, or in two for a teensy bit more money. My choice this year was the Golden Emerald 1 Yolk from Restoran Oversea in Malaysia. True to its name, the rich emerald-coloured filling is made possible by the intense pandan flavour - with hints of almond and coconut, and accompanied with a single duck egg yolk in the center of the cake. Yum!
In celebration of mooncake festival, I cooked dinner at the Treehouse.
~ Deep fried tofu with cucumber, red onion, sweet chili sauce and ground peanuts ~
~ Stir-fried bok choi, green beans, baby corn and prawns ~
~ Grilled mussels with cheese and bacon ~
~ Roast duck garnished with cucumber and tomato ~
~ Lettuce wrap with minced lamb, capsicum, baby corn and bamboo shoots ~
Charlotte was in charge of dessert:
~ Mango pudding garnished with fresh strawberry ~
~ Golden Emerald Pandan Mooncake with One Yolk ~
Everything went according to plan and the meal was a huge success.
Let's see... I had a sunny weekend up in Otaki, went to Wellington on a Plate with Mel at the Boulcott St Bistro, I've been playing a few games on my Sega Mega Drive, I went to the Japanese Festival at the Town Hall, I've eaten a few KFC Double Downs and had Hot 'n' Spicy, went to see Jeramiah "Module" Ross perform the Shatter soundtrack live at the San Francisco Bath House... and I've also been quite busy at work. Two more weeks until Beta >_> The game is shaping up to be pretty good and I'm proud of what we've done. There's still lots more work to be done and various aspects of the game still need some tightening and polish. I guess we'll be ramping up efforts closer to our deadlines to try and cram things in.
Oh and I've finished uploading all my America photos and just added photos from my springtime photodump.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:08am on Monday September 24, 2012 :: 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 ::