Work and Easter

We had a "Formal Friday" today. Other workplaces have a "Casual Friday", but since we wear jeans and t-shirts every day, we did the opposite and all dressed up today. It's the first time I've worn a tie since High School, I think... I had to look up how to tie a tie last night :)

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We went to yum-cha for lunch - I guess when you look respectable for a change you need to take advantage of it. Melanie's told me all about yum-cha, but it was the first time I'd tried it. I liked the pot-sticker dumplings best! After work a bunch of us went for drinks at a cool little pub converted from an old terrace house - happy hour cocktails :) It was fun, but I'm such a lightweight when it comes to drinking!

Work is still cool, and will only get better over the next few weeks. I got to squish a few bugs earlier this week, so I had the satisfaction of finally contributing something, albeit something very small! And starting next week, I finally have a role on the team, working on A.I. navigation. It's probably the role in the team that's closest to my expertise, but still not really related very much :p So I have a heap to learn, and it'll be slow going to begin with, but it's the sort of area I find really fascinating and want to get into. I'm very excited!

The Easter weekend was good. I met up with Rinku and her husband, and we went to an Indian-Chinese restaurant. I haven't ever tried food like this before, but it was really good. The dish I had was like honey battered chicken - think honey chicken at Suzies - in an Indian curry. I'm not sure it was as good as either Indian or Chinese on its own, but it was a great fusion of flavours and well worth trying.
My sister Michelle came to visit for a few days. We wandered around Darling Harbour, which was filled with Easter performances. There were a bunch of street performers, and we saw a public show of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus - that was fun, I love watching circus.
But quite possibly the most amazing discovery was... a Lindt chocolate cafe! Now, if it was actually a cafe made from Lindt chocolate it would be even more amazing still, but as it is - a cafe serving just Lindt products - it runs a close second in salivating wonderment. There were lots of Lindt Lindor balls I'd never seen before - like coffee and intense dark chocolate (*sigh*), as well as very expensive individual gourmet Lindt chocolates, and, get this, cakes and slices made from Lindt chocolate. It was the most wicked and yet heavenly place I've ever seen. It's actually probably a good thing it's so expensive, so I can't go there every day :D

I'm not sure what I'll do this weekend yet. I can't believe it's the weekend again already, this week has gone so fast. I'm thinking sleeping in will be a good start, though :D

Nick in Sydney

First blog update in Sydney! I'm at Team Bondi's office after hours, but there are still plenty of people around working. I don't have internet access - or a working computer - at home, so I have to either use this computer or find an internet cafe. There aren't any internet cafes close to home, so either way I have to be here in town somewhere.
Also, I've been putting it off the last few days because there always seemed to be something else to do - like sleep - but the longer I put it off, the harder it became to decide where to start! So here's what I've been up to...

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I stayed in Rocky as long as I could to look after Sarah, but in the last week of March, after I was sure she'd be alright, I had to return to Bundaberg to prepare for the move to Sydney.
I packed almost everything I owned - bar furniture - in my little Lanos. Hatchbacks are just awesome, you can fit so much into them! I had to leave behind some bulky, non-essential stuff (like kendo gear and deep fryer *cry*), but I managed a lot.
I took the inland route to Sydney, following the New England Highway through Toowoomba, Armidale, and Tamworth. The drive, through ever changing scenery, was beautiful; for much of the trip I was the only car in sight. I stopped to visit a dragonfruit farm near Nanango and a motorcycle museum in Tamworth. They were both very cool too.
The drive into Sydney wasn't so pleasant. I arrived Saturday evening, and navigated congested roads with almost no rear view (the back was packed to the ceiling :) ). Everytime I had to change lanes, I prayed I wasn't going to run into anyone! I lost my way when I had to detour around a crash. Eventually I made it to Dad's place, though, and simply fell into bed.
The next day, Sunday, I unpacked, and went in to town to help Dad with a shopfitting job he was finishing up. The mindless work was actually a welcome relief and I made sure to savour it!
On Monday morning I missed the bus twice into work (don't ask how I managed that, I can't rightly explain), and drove to Bankstown - the closest station - instead. Despite the bus mishap, the public transport system is very easy to use - it just takes a long time. I waste about 2-3 hours commuting each day - bus + train + walk. That's another reason I haven't felt like staying in town to blog! Mind you, I get to walk through Chinatown, so it's not all bad! I am this moment savouring the thought of what I'll pick up to eat when I leave here shortly :)

Work itself has been a mixed bag. The downside is that I've arrived just as everyone is scrambling to reach a milestone, and the usual introduction that I would go through has been put on the backburner until people have time to teach me stuff. It's been frustrating because I need to learn so much but I don't want to monopolise anyone's time. I've been stumbling along picking up a few things as I can, though.
However, it is going to be an amazingly cool job. The office is wide open and relaxed, taking up the entire top floor of our building with a minimum of internal walls. People kick balls and ride electric skateboards around; there are games consoles and pool/airhockey/ping-pong tables in the lunch area; and the dress code is so casual I was practically overdressed in jeans and an untucked shirt on my first day. Shorts/tshirts/thongs are in fashion. It's basically just like what the Honours Room would have been like if we'd had a gazillion times more funding :p
Over and above the work environment, though, the project itself is literally awesome (as in "admiration tinged with fear" awesome). L.A. Noire is a gigantic undertaking that I'm struggling to come to grips with, and I could almost despair at how much there is to learn and how much work there is to do. But by the same token, it's so ambitious that you can't help but be bouyed up with excitement. It's the sort of game I wish I'd come up with, it addresses so much of what I've thought has been missing in games lately. If we (it sounds strange writing "we") manage to accomplish only most of what I've read about, it will be a fantastic game. I don't think I'm allowed to give you any more detail, though, so you'll just have to take my word for now :)

It's time for me to leave if I want to catch the last bus! I really look forward to catching up with you all when I can - and don't forget to blog :) Talk to ya later!