Seattle
One thing I really like about Seattle is how many video game companies are here in Seattle. Sure, there are a lot of game companies in California (both north and south) but the differences here is everything is spread out in Cali...here, everyone is relatively close together. In fact, its so close, that it is possible to be eating at a restaurant next to guy working on a competing game. And not just any competing games or companies, BUT major games and major companies all working very close to each other. I mean, both Nintendo and Microsoft are here, but not to mention the 2 biggest games to come out this year are made here: Half Life 2 and Halo 2. This is also why we have to be careful about talking about our projects outside of work here.
One of the coolest thing about living here that happen to me that made me realized how much of a gaming hub this place is, while at the local gym here (known as the Pro Club, which is very fancy and expensive), I ran across a car with the license plate "TETRIS". That was Alexey Pajitnov's car!! I know this cuz he works and lives here in Redmond, working for Microsoft (and a co worker of mine sez he knows him too and would like to introduce me sometimes!). Is that cool or what?!
This is truely the Silicon Valley of Video Games.
Toronto
Here's great article I read recently about how Prince LOVES (and lives in) Toronto.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1083190211674&call_pageid=968867495754&col=969483191630
*sigh* I miss Toronto. Go Leafs Go!
Azeroth
Thx to my good friend Ben at Blizzard, I am one of the few lucky chosen to help beta test World of Warcraft MMORPG. I have never played an online game like this, mostly because I am afraid of getting addicted. So far, I am having fun. I had no idea what I was doing and I died a lot at the beginning, but now I am understanding it and getting into the game. Cant wait to actually start playing with people I do know who is also beta testing it (ahem...Mir...Leila...Uncle Benny...Sze...). If you are happening to be playing, look me up. I am namofni.
Friday, April 30, 2004
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Girls, Geeks and Hiking
Now in "Lazy Ass Densetsu Reminder Point Form!" :
--Friday. Went to Albert Shen's famous yearly single's party on the 76th floor of Columbia Tower. Went with out of town friend visiting. She had great time. Met a lot of cool people. Ate at Purple Dot at 2am. Table for 20!
--Saturday. Went to Sakuracon, Seattle's Anime convention, by myself. It was lame, expensive and way too many guys dressed up like Sailor Moon. Dinner with visiting Rocket John. House party with Sylvia.
--Sunday. Woke up early to go hiking up Mt. Si again. Started around 10am. Ended around 3pm. Didn't get home til 6pm dued to traffic. So tired. Went to bed around 8pm.
--new photo album. Seattle Mariners Openning Day pics. Enjoy.
Now in "Lazy Ass Densetsu Reminder Point Form!" :
--Friday. Went to Albert Shen's famous yearly single's party on the 76th floor of Columbia Tower. Went with out of town friend visiting. She had great time. Met a lot of cool people. Ate at Purple Dot at 2am. Table for 20!
--Saturday. Went to Sakuracon, Seattle's Anime convention, by myself. It was lame, expensive and way too many guys dressed up like Sailor Moon. Dinner with visiting Rocket John. House party with Sylvia.
--Sunday. Woke up early to go hiking up Mt. Si again. Started around 10am. Ended around 3pm. Didn't get home til 6pm dued to traffic. So tired. Went to bed around 8pm.
--new photo album. Seattle Mariners Openning Day pics. Enjoy.
Monday, April 19, 2004
Super E3 Week Plans!!
So, OFFICIALLY...I am NOT going to E3.
UNOFFICIALLY...I AM GOING! :)
so, here is my plan:
So, because the company this year isn't paying for me to go, I have to do everything on my own, which turns out to be a good thing. I ended up buying a ticket which will fly me down from Seattle to LAX on Tuesday evening. I will hanging out with Jon who is driving down from SF, for the next 3 days of the show.
But after the show is over on Friday, we CAN still stay in LA for the weekend OR I can drive up back with Jon back to San Fran whenever we like during the weekend! I ended up buying my ticket to FLY OUT OF SFO instead, back to Seattle. As long as I get into SF by Sunday night, I can do whatever I like. Not only was this cheaper, I get to spent this whole week in two different cities.
I am so looking forward to this trip. Not just the trip and the chance to hang out in 2 different cities, but the E3 is show itself is something to look forward. I mean, the Nintendo DS, the PSP and last great PS2, Xbox and GC games will debut at this show.
So, let me know if you are going to E3 this year. We can party together while I am there!
My Weekend
--spent Saturday at some bbq / housewarming / bday party with a bunch of Canadians drinking beer. And what do Canadians drinking beer want to do all day? Watch hockey. Spent the whole night watching the Canucks / Flame game, and all its triple overtime. It was a very exciting game but we all wanted the Canucks to lose (sorry Denny). Any team that gives up a 4 nothing lead, doesn't deserve to win that game.
--went hiking / photography taking with Oiyan in Discovery Park...and really nice park / military base with a lighthouse. Oiyan is now an amateur photograher taking black and whites. I ended up just taking pictures of her taking pictures.
--went to Tacoma for my belated bday dinner with Di. Later went to see Kill Bill Vol.2. I enjoyed it a lot.
So, OFFICIALLY...I am NOT going to E3.
UNOFFICIALLY...I AM GOING! :)
so, here is my plan:
So, because the company this year isn't paying for me to go, I have to do everything on my own, which turns out to be a good thing. I ended up buying a ticket which will fly me down from Seattle to LAX on Tuesday evening. I will hanging out with Jon who is driving down from SF, for the next 3 days of the show.
But after the show is over on Friday, we CAN still stay in LA for the weekend OR I can drive up back with Jon back to San Fran whenever we like during the weekend! I ended up buying my ticket to FLY OUT OF SFO instead, back to Seattle. As long as I get into SF by Sunday night, I can do whatever I like. Not only was this cheaper, I get to spent this whole week in two different cities.
I am so looking forward to this trip. Not just the trip and the chance to hang out in 2 different cities, but the E3 is show itself is something to look forward. I mean, the Nintendo DS, the PSP and last great PS2, Xbox and GC games will debut at this show.
So, let me know if you are going to E3 this year. We can party together while I am there!
My Weekend
--spent Saturday at some bbq / housewarming / bday party with a bunch of Canadians drinking beer. And what do Canadians drinking beer want to do all day? Watch hockey. Spent the whole night watching the Canucks / Flame game, and all its triple overtime. It was a very exciting game but we all wanted the Canucks to lose (sorry Denny). Any team that gives up a 4 nothing lead, doesn't deserve to win that game.
--went hiking / photography taking with Oiyan in Discovery Park...and really nice park / military base with a lighthouse. Oiyan is now an amateur photograher taking black and whites. I ended up just taking pictures of her taking pictures.
--went to Tacoma for my belated bday dinner with Di. Later went to see Kill Bill Vol.2. I enjoyed it a lot.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Another Lost Weekend
Well...this time it was not work related.
Last Friday, I had 2 of my wisdom tooths removed...I was supposed to get all 4 removed but it turned out harder for the dentist than anticipated. Because, my tooth was fused to the jaw bone, they had to actually cut thru the bone to get the tooth out. And because it took more time to do so, only the right side was done.
And yes, I was awake for the whole thing...was under "laughing gas" the whole time with my eyes closed but I can feel the dentist really pushing a pulling to get my tooth out. Didn't bother me one bit :)
Anyways, the weekend that follows was soooo boring. I ended up staying home all Friday and Saturday. But not cuz of the pain. I was actually fine by Saturday morning, even eating solid foods. The fact was, the drugs they gave me made me VERY WEAK and TIRED so I couldn't really leave my house and drive to anywhere. Ended up staying home watching a lot of TV and DVDs.
The funny thing was Linh's bday party was that Friday nite and I even asked my dentist if I was allowed to go (I really wanted to go) but he said no. But I was going to defy him and go anyways. Turns out by evening I was incredible weak and my mouth was still bleeding of blood. So, I ended up not going.
Anyways, I hate losing a weekend like this, especially just going thru a whole month of not having my weekends. You never realized how much the weekends mean to you unless its taken away from you.
My weekend was not a complete diaster. Sunday, my friends drag (drove) me to a pot luck dinner party in Belltown to say our final goodbyes to Ben (who is leaving to Toronto for a couple of months). Though I was still weak, being around my friends and eating all those deserts ( I made / brought that wonderful clobber that Jon taught me) gave me enough to survive.
Back to work on Monday fully ready to work. What's funny is fellow co worker Steve also had his wisdom tooth removed on Friday and still took 2 more days to recover and he STILL can't solid foods yet!! What a wuss!
Well...this time it was not work related.
Last Friday, I had 2 of my wisdom tooths removed...I was supposed to get all 4 removed but it turned out harder for the dentist than anticipated. Because, my tooth was fused to the jaw bone, they had to actually cut thru the bone to get the tooth out. And because it took more time to do so, only the right side was done.
And yes, I was awake for the whole thing...was under "laughing gas" the whole time with my eyes closed but I can feel the dentist really pushing a pulling to get my tooth out. Didn't bother me one bit :)
Anyways, the weekend that follows was soooo boring. I ended up staying home all Friday and Saturday. But not cuz of the pain. I was actually fine by Saturday morning, even eating solid foods. The fact was, the drugs they gave me made me VERY WEAK and TIRED so I couldn't really leave my house and drive to anywhere. Ended up staying home watching a lot of TV and DVDs.
The funny thing was Linh's bday party was that Friday nite and I even asked my dentist if I was allowed to go (I really wanted to go) but he said no. But I was going to defy him and go anyways. Turns out by evening I was incredible weak and my mouth was still bleeding of blood. So, I ended up not going.
Anyways, I hate losing a weekend like this, especially just going thru a whole month of not having my weekends. You never realized how much the weekends mean to you unless its taken away from you.
My weekend was not a complete diaster. Sunday, my friends drag (drove) me to a pot luck dinner party in Belltown to say our final goodbyes to Ben (who is leaving to Toronto for a couple of months). Though I was still weak, being around my friends and eating all those deserts ( I made / brought that wonderful clobber that Jon taught me) gave me enough to survive.
Back to work on Monday fully ready to work. What's funny is fellow co worker Steve also had his wisdom tooth removed on Friday and still took 2 more days to recover and he STILL can't solid foods yet!! What a wuss!
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Weekend (and a Tuesday) O' Fun
Sorry for the lack of updates...but this time its not cuz I am super busy with work...more like super busy with FUN...haha...what a change!
Here's the highlights:
--Though I am "technically" done and have more free time and working "normal" hours, I still have the Japanese and European localization versions to work. That's all fine and dandy but for some wierd reason, I get these "surprise" deadlines out of NO WHERE, sometimes on the day its DUED which forces me to work a little harder. But not much harder, because despite the fact that everyone else here is lazily working (who can blame them), I too still dont work that hard and still get things done...and ON TIME. I am the miracle worker...
--Jon and his gf came to visit me in Seattle this weekend. Well, I was one of the reason (I like to think I am A reason for someone to come up here)...he was here to also meet up his gf's friends from Portland and to spend a day in Vancouver.
--Friday was Tom's Bday party at some Vietnamese restaurant followed by bullriding at this "hot" new bar called Cowgirls Inc.
--for the Vietnamese restaurant, we promised 7 courses of BEEF. Of course...we didn't get that...or at least...it wasn't what we expected. But it was still a good time making fun of the fact that we didn't get 7 courses of beef.
--met this really cool Korean girl who sat next to me at dinner. Actually, she was very cute looking which made me more surprised when she told me how old she was (she is MUCH OLDER than I am)
--went to Cowgirls, Inc where Jon and his group were waiting for me. Cowgirls Inc. is this new bar run by female bartenders or "cowgirls" and its supposed to be like that bar in "Coyote Ugly" where they dance on the bar tops and woo guys. What we also have is an incredible long wait in a line outside the bar and then entering into bar filled with mostly guys. And did I mention it was REALLY loud in there? Or, at least there's bullriding.
--I stuck around for a short while, taking pictures of Tom and Lily getting on the bull (btw...Lily, after ridiing the bull, was actually offered a job to work there as a female host!), I wanted to leave the place because it was just too loud (getting old), too many guys everywhere and I could tell Jon and company was not having a good time (I really wanted to introduce them to my friends but it was hard with the noise). So, we left to check out the rest of Pioneer Square. We checked both a Jazz bar and the Fenix Underground. Then I took them to eat at Purple Dot (our usual 2am meal place) before we all went home to wake up bright and early for Vancouver the next day.
--did I mention that one of the bartenders at the Cowgirl I recognized as somekind of porn star? Dont ask me how I know.
--funny thing about me leaving Cowgirls early. Thoughout the night, I kept getting phone calls from people still at the bar wondering where I went. Turns out, everyone decided to do some bullriding and they needed someone with a camera to take their pictures...aka...ME!! Why is it that I have this big camera that I hate carrying around with me yet I bring it that night, and everyone else has these cool small, take anywhere cameras and none of them bring theirs?!!! Once again, I have become the unoffical photographer of the group.
--oh yeah...the pictures can be found here:
http://public.fotki.com/namofni/toms_bday!!/
--Saturday...Vancouver Day Trip. Spent day in Richmond, Stanley Park and Downtown Vancouver, eating, walking and shopping.
--Highlight of Trip: going to Sambo, an ALL YOU CAN EAT Brazilian Meat place where they give you slices and slices of all kinds of meat, including beef, pork, chicken, shrimp etc. But they even had exotic meats as well, where I got to try venison (deer) and ostrich (they ran out of buffalo). Needless to say, we were stuffed beyond belief.
--oh yeah...pictures of us...mostly at Stanley Park:
http://public.fotki.com/namofni/vancouver_day_trip/
--btw...I think Jon's gf looks a lot like my friend Andrea. Both are short and look very similar IMHO. Hmmmm....
--Sunday: spent day driving Jon and his gf around Seattle. I took them to Ikea, Fry's, Bruce Lee's grave, Capital Hill, Chinatown and then we met up with Linh and Justin for dinner by Lake Union. Ended the night with watching "Eternal Sunshine on a Spotless Mind." Very trippy movie (but good).
--Monday: took moring and good part of afternoon off for lunch with Jon and gf at Nintendo and even managing to squeeze in a trip to Microsoft Company Store (very great discounts) and their Microsoft Museum. Then I drove them to the airport. Fun times.
--Tuesday: took whole day off to attend the Seattle Mariners season openner vs. the Angels with Sylvia, Karen and Karen's friend Kate. Mariners lost but it was such a great day to watch baseball with a bunch of pretty girls :) Me happy.
--pictures coming soon...
Sorry for the lack of updates...but this time its not cuz I am super busy with work...more like super busy with FUN...haha...what a change!
Here's the highlights:
--Though I am "technically" done and have more free time and working "normal" hours, I still have the Japanese and European localization versions to work. That's all fine and dandy but for some wierd reason, I get these "surprise" deadlines out of NO WHERE, sometimes on the day its DUED which forces me to work a little harder. But not much harder, because despite the fact that everyone else here is lazily working (who can blame them), I too still dont work that hard and still get things done...and ON TIME. I am the miracle worker...
--Jon and his gf came to visit me in Seattle this weekend. Well, I was one of the reason (I like to think I am A reason for someone to come up here)...he was here to also meet up his gf's friends from Portland and to spend a day in Vancouver.
--Friday was Tom's Bday party at some Vietnamese restaurant followed by bullriding at this "hot" new bar called Cowgirls Inc.
--for the Vietnamese restaurant, we promised 7 courses of BEEF. Of course...we didn't get that...or at least...it wasn't what we expected. But it was still a good time making fun of the fact that we didn't get 7 courses of beef.
--met this really cool Korean girl who sat next to me at dinner. Actually, she was very cute looking which made me more surprised when she told me how old she was (she is MUCH OLDER than I am)
--went to Cowgirls, Inc where Jon and his group were waiting for me. Cowgirls Inc. is this new bar run by female bartenders or "cowgirls" and its supposed to be like that bar in "Coyote Ugly" where they dance on the bar tops and woo guys. What we also have is an incredible long wait in a line outside the bar and then entering into bar filled with mostly guys. And did I mention it was REALLY loud in there? Or, at least there's bullriding.
--I stuck around for a short while, taking pictures of Tom and Lily getting on the bull (btw...Lily, after ridiing the bull, was actually offered a job to work there as a female host!), I wanted to leave the place because it was just too loud (getting old), too many guys everywhere and I could tell Jon and company was not having a good time (I really wanted to introduce them to my friends but it was hard with the noise). So, we left to check out the rest of Pioneer Square. We checked both a Jazz bar and the Fenix Underground. Then I took them to eat at Purple Dot (our usual 2am meal place) before we all went home to wake up bright and early for Vancouver the next day.
--did I mention that one of the bartenders at the Cowgirl I recognized as somekind of porn star? Dont ask me how I know.
--funny thing about me leaving Cowgirls early. Thoughout the night, I kept getting phone calls from people still at the bar wondering where I went. Turns out, everyone decided to do some bullriding and they needed someone with a camera to take their pictures...aka...ME!! Why is it that I have this big camera that I hate carrying around with me yet I bring it that night, and everyone else has these cool small, take anywhere cameras and none of them bring theirs?!!! Once again, I have become the unoffical photographer of the group.
--oh yeah...the pictures can be found here:
http://public.fotki.com/namofni/toms_bday!!/
--Saturday...Vancouver Day Trip. Spent day in Richmond, Stanley Park and Downtown Vancouver, eating, walking and shopping.
--Highlight of Trip: going to Sambo, an ALL YOU CAN EAT Brazilian Meat place where they give you slices and slices of all kinds of meat, including beef, pork, chicken, shrimp etc. But they even had exotic meats as well, where I got to try venison (deer) and ostrich (they ran out of buffalo). Needless to say, we were stuffed beyond belief.
--oh yeah...pictures of us...mostly at Stanley Park:
http://public.fotki.com/namofni/vancouver_day_trip/
--btw...I think Jon's gf looks a lot like my friend Andrea. Both are short and look very similar IMHO. Hmmmm....
--Sunday: spent day driving Jon and his gf around Seattle. I took them to Ikea, Fry's, Bruce Lee's grave, Capital Hill, Chinatown and then we met up with Linh and Justin for dinner by Lake Union. Ended the night with watching "Eternal Sunshine on a Spotless Mind." Very trippy movie (but good).
--Monday: took moring and good part of afternoon off for lunch with Jon and gf at Nintendo and even managing to squeeze in a trip to Microsoft Company Store (very great discounts) and their Microsoft Museum. Then I drove them to the airport. Fun times.
--Tuesday: took whole day off to attend the Seattle Mariners season openner vs. the Angels with Sylvia, Karen and Karen's friend Kate. Mariners lost but it was such a great day to watch baseball with a bunch of pretty girls :) Me happy.
--pictures coming soon...
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