Brief HK Trip Recap

I will keep better track next time with my new MacBook! Bwahahaha... Until then...

* Definitely not enough time this time around. Last year (2006) I was back for 4 weeks and was bored for a week or so. This time I thought 3 weeks should be okay but apparently that wasn't the case. I didn't have time to meet up with all my friends - considering the fact that: i. Vincent wasn't in HK ii. Big Den also wasn't in HK iii. 老大要陪阿嫂 iv. Richard went to 深圳. Why didn't I have enough time (Though I was sick for a few days)!!!! So when people asked me how was my vacation, my answer? Two weeks too short. >_<

* Since no need to get any electronics this time, my shopping list was mainly clothing. Similar to above, I think I did not get all my target items at well. I should have go shopping alone in the afternoon of 29th (the day before I came back) instead of having a family day. Having mom right next to me slightly affected my "shopping mindset" (Really should have bought that tee and shirt from Zara). I think many sales people would be very happy to see me in my last week of vacation - since basically it went like this: "Well, let me try it on. Well I guess it's okay, keep it at the counter for me while i shop around for more"

* More on clothing. Biggest disappointment this time: French Connection. Number of items I like: 0. Biggest Winner: Izzue & Muji. Muji was really a big surprise. Never thought I could get like 5 - 6 items there. The rest was pretty average (2%, 5cm, etc), a couple items here, several items there. In general, the style this year was average.

* Newsgroup friends: A house warming party at Pak's and a CWB dinner. Had a great time in both occasions. Only hope that we can meet more often.

* Christmas Eve at Jasper's: Is it becoming a tradition? Well, I won't be back next (this) year during Christmas though. Maybe Vincent can pick up slack. XD

* Yuen Long: Since Jasper mentioned it in her latest blog. One of my conclusions in this HK trip is that normal dim sum restaurants no longer have 蓮蓉飽 - I'm not even talking about 白蓮蓉飽. Apparently they all switched to selling 流沙飽 instead. What a shame! I had to go to Yuen Long's 大榮華 for my 白蓮蓉飽 (but they were good - Yum). On the other hand, i definitely had enough 碗仔翅. =9

* Speaking of Dim Sum, I think there were only 3 days in my whole vacation where we didn't have dim sum. For those who are surprise, my parents do go to have dim sum almost every day since I was little (my dad's work schedule was rather atypical). So to me, daily dim sum breakfast/brunch/lunch was pretty normal. Oh, those couple days I missed? It's because I stayed up all night the night before. XD

* It was nice not having to drive. Considering the fact that I live in Fanling, a normal trip to Kowloon would at least take an hour. However, it felt much more enjoyable since there wasn't any need to pay attention to the road condition etc. Only need to remember to get off.

* Getting Back Home after mid-night. Not having to drive was nice, but finding public transportation back home was a pain once past midnight. However, I did figure out how to get home from CWB and Kowloon Bay via red/green van. I think i've seen signs for over-night green vans in MongKok. I'll try to figure that one out next next time.

* Gift for folks at work: another snack pack from 奇華 but don't know how they fared with last year's 鳳梨酥. Next trip might be tricky. Um...

That's it for now~

Return to the Blogosphere

Dev deadline? Over
Trip to HK? Over
Year 2007? Over

Well, finally have time AND mood to start blogging again! XD

Things finally settled down from my HK trip. My work schedule is back to normally and my sleep schedule is getting there as well (actually it's a bit healthier as is right now - comparing to going to bed around 3 before).

This year, my blogging resolution will be having more post than last year, which was 68. This should be a modest goal - let see whether i can achieve that or not. Speaking of blogging, Apple is rumored to announce a slim/ultra compact MacBook this coming Tuesday at MacWorld. I am extremely interested. Hopefully it's be in the right price range for me. Wondering what this has to do with blogging? Having a MacBook = able to blog in wifi-available cafes = definitely more blog post since I like hanging out at coffee shops on weekends anyway. My company does offer interest free computer loans, but i need to pay off my current PC first (since you can only do one at a time and i have ~$600 remaining with my current one).

And the gaming blog continues....

Really nothing much to update otherwise... Probably will return to blogging world next year since the deadline's coming up at the end of this month and I'll be on vacation in December.

Anyway... Considering the fact that it's not even a year since I bought my Wii, I realized tonight that I pretty much buy a game per month (that's not even counting the DS ones). Here's Game #11 in my collection:



Luckily, I did manage to finish the main story mode in Zack and Wiki (by the way, it's a great game. For only $40, every Wii owner should get a copy...kakakaka) so I can actually start FE right away. Probably go back to Z&W from time to time to do more treasure hunts and try getting to 100% completion.

Game #12 will be coming next week; follow by Game #13 and perhaps #14... November is definite not a good month. :P

Update on Vacation Plan

It looks like I got lucky this year. Originally my itinerary was something like this: MSN > ORD > SFO > HKG > ORD > MSN. It wasn't my ideal plan, but since all the other dates/flights are fully booked, I decided to buy the ticket anyway.

I purchased the ticket last Saturday (20th), and this past Monday, I got a call from the travel agent saying that he was able to find a direct ORD-HKG flight on the 7th as well. Even better, he was also able to find me a seat on the 30th (the original date was 29th) as well. At $1155, i think it's a good deal and i am very impressed with their customer service.

More proof this is becoming a gaming blog...

Nowadays it feels like I only blog when there's something related to either Wii or DS. Hahaha...

Anyway, after looking around for several days, I finally got my hands on Capcom's newest Wii game - Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. The game supposedly shipped this past Tuesday. Knowing that this is Madison, I wait a day before checking the major outlets for the game. So on Wednesday after work...BestBuy - nope; Toysrus - nope; GameStop - nope; Target - nope; Wal-Mart - nope... and then I gave up. I pretty much repeated the same "shopping" (more like searching) trip Thursday and Friday. Finally this morning afternoon after I woke up, GameStop's site said that they have copies in store (finally!) Rushed over, hand over credit card, game GEEEEEETTTTT!



The guy who works there says that the game is flying off the shelf, I was like.."Yeah, tell me about it"

Anyway, the verdict is this: If you have a Wii, you should not miss this game. In fact, go buy it now! Wait, you should call the stores first to make sure they have it in stock to avoid my fun experience



* Yeah, that stage with the frog bomb? Died 3 times... >_<

Next question: should i rely on local retailers for the 11/5 release of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn? Or should I buy it online? Decision, decision...

Notice anything unusual?

Below is the search result I got when from UAL for ticket prices between Madison and Hong Kong. Notice anything unusual?

Totally forgot...

that Nintendo was doing there fall conference tonight (in Japan). Hence the blogs are flooded with new Nintendo news... From what I've read so far, it was quite an impressive event with a lot of new information on new games and release dates.

For those who are keeping an eye out for WiiFit, it will be released in Japan on December 1st for roughly $75.

Oh... SquareEnix has a new WiiWare game (think of them as XBox Arcade or Playstation Network) that is a spin-off from the Crystal Chronicles line - Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Small King and the Promised Country. Being a big SquareEnix and FF fan, no complaint there (well, maybe a release date for FFCC:Crystal Bearer would be nice. Also wouldn't mind getting the main FF line back to Nintendo...XD)

P.S. Fire Emblem DS was also announced during the conference. I guess my game lineup for next year will be as packed as this year. Mwahahaha...

Not enough sleep... it's all Link's fault

Bought the newest Zelda game last Friday and have been playing it since. It's the first Zelda game on the DS (which increased my DS game collection to 15) and I have nothing but praise for it. The game is controlled totally using the stylus and yet it feels so natural. I don't think I can actually go back to the old scheme any more.

And with the stylus, some of the puzzles were extremely entertaining. The puzzle on the island with no maps was definitely an amusing one. Without the touch screen input, I don't know how Nintendo could pull off such genius trick. =) There are tons of jokes/funny scenes sprinkled throughout the game. The story is very compelling and not to mention I totally dig Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass's art direction (cell-shaded cutesy figures). I guess my only concern is that it might be a short adventure (comparing to the 60 - 70 hours I put into Twilight Princess). Now only if Nintendo would let us know when we can expect the true Wii version of Zelda...

Game buying season starts...

with a tiny droplet of water call Dewy. My 9th Wii game:



I think I'll enjoy the game - it's kinda like Kororinpa but with a story and platforming elements. You basically use the remote sensing functionality to navigate Dewy through the various stages and fight bosses. It's definitely not the *greatest* game, but one that definitely fits my gaming styles so it's a nice welcome to my game collection.

Looking at all the game boxes on my desk, it's kinda surprise to see that the number of Wii games I owned is getting close to the number of DS games (Right now, DS collection sits at 14 - but I haven't bought Luminous Arc yet and Zelda DS is coming out October 1st). Apparently I do spend a lot of money into games. XD

Well, I have till late October for Dewy (and i should be fine) before Zack and Wiki comes out.

UGM is finally over

My company's annual Users' Group Meeting is finally over. With the completion of Campus 2 Phase 1, we are hosting almost every single event (except one) in our Verona campus. This means we have around 5000 people around the campus every day this week - pretty crazy. On one hand, it's quite nice to be able to simply walk to the educational sessions instead of taking a bus to the Alliant Energy Center/Monona Terrace; on the other, parking is painful, no excruciating. There are currently around 1500 underground parking spot in Campus 1 - and since we have to accommodate customers who drive, they make some temporary parking spot in the Campus 2 construction site. Parking on gravel (and then walking back to my office) is definitely no fun - especially you are dressed up (Yup - it's the only 3 day in the whole year where the attire is business casual). They definitely need to bring the ice-cream back during breaks. I can do without the lunches, but no snacks, yikes!

We also completed the two final landscaping projects in Campus One: our corporate tree house and the waterfall between Cassiopeia and Deneb. Haven't actually gone up the tree house yet, but the waterfall is quite neat. Here's the Flickr photo set.