Some photos from last Friday’s Gaming Cup event where people from the gaming industry get together for some football, food and drinks. I didn’t participate because I’m shockingly bad, so I ended up being the unofficial photographer for the day. Last year’s defending champs, Activision, didn’t make it to the party. This year Ubisoft went home with the cup after beating EA in a penalty shootout. The weather was gorgeous – it has been uncharacteristically warm here in Sydney, not that I’m complaining – not a bad way to spend a Friday!
Spent the weekend vegging with lots of game time. You know the kind: old t-shirt, sweatpants, big bowl of chips and a family-sized bottle of Coke. Now that work involves gaming (it had to happen someday.. sigh) it’s a great excuse to crack out the ol’ console and have a bash.. although in this case it’s other people’s consoles. I still haven’t gotten a TV although I have looked at a couple. It’s hard to decide on one when the difference between a 24″ and 42″ is a couple of hundred bucks I’m too stingy to fork out for.
I’m currently working with a company (and have been since August) that puts out a number of gaming magazines and that is probably Sydney’s equivalent of Catcha in terms of numbers and operation.. minus the cool street mag. The funny coincidence (this is old news to some, but I haven’t blogged about it yet) was that my ex-colleague from Sydney, who came to work with us in Catcha a few years ago, is back in Sydney and in the same company that I am now – small world or what?
The office is near the beach, which is great in summer, but also means that the buses I take home are often packed, sweaty but with a nice vibe. In the mornings it is different; I miss the rush-hour crowd by 30 minutes and the journey is often uneventful. I have a regular coffee place, and the man who makes my coffee practices his Cantonese on me while we exchange bits of news from home. It is funny how a common language abroad places you in a box with other people whom you might not necessarily share with back home. I love my coffee guy though. And people assume all Malaysians will instantly be my new best friends, which is fairly amusing but six months has dulled its amusement value somewhat.
Side-tracking, to answer some questions a few friends have asked..
Bars and clubs here are so diverse that I’ve barely been to the same place twice. There are probably more bars and clubs in my suburb (Darlinghurst) than in KL CBD, and although there will always be the bar or club du jour (read: expensive, elite) there are enough places for everything you’re after.. be it music, drinks, dress code or crowd.. and plenty more to discover if you have a little time on the weekends.
Have a sudden urge to play games again. Brought forth last Wednesday, I think, by a preview of Diablo III screenshots and trailers after checking out a string of gaming sites. My main WoW account has lapsed since I arrived and I consciously let it remain inactive while I unconsciously fill my time with other engagements while following guild progression through Nick Fong and gratuitous forum trolling during my free time. But lately I’ve been thinking a lot about games, to the point I almost bought a DS on the weekend because I can’t wait till Nik gets here (I asked him to pick one up from KL). Today I wanted to buy D2 and D2:LOD off the Blizzard Online Store, for old time’s sake and to get back into it before D3 releases, before I decided I should check out second hand games here first. But by the time I finished work at 6pm and got to the mall the shops were already closed.. GG.. maybe I should just play WoW again.
I am so so so not used to malls being empty at 6pm! Seriously! Especially after working over 4 years in Mid Valley. Haha.
Anyway, have been quite busy at work so at the moment I’ve decided to wait another week to download it off the Blizzard Online Store since it cost USD$39 for both and it’s AUD$70 here from the stores.
Also because I’ve spent too much this week going out, eating out and shopping. Had some friends in town. I only went shopping because my favourite Aussie shoe brand were having a warehouse sale and I really couldn’t resist checking out Peep Toe’s sale advertising 75% of retail. And when I went there they had a huge range of special couture shoes, some of them one-offs, which were only available in size 38.. my size!
Sigh sigh sigh. Wish I could afford more ;)
Spent yesterday drinking G&Ts at the Opera Bar in the sun, which is always such a nice thing to do on a sunny weekend.
Went to the gym this morning for some weights in an attempt to bulk up. For some reason I’ve been steadily losing weight since I got here, and it’s not from lack of eating well if my grocery bill tells me anything. I think it’s all the walking I do, something that having a car and living in KL doesn’t allow for. I’ve gone from wearing my size 30 jeans to trying to keep my 28s up, which is beginning to scare me although I was making jokes about it at the start.. :/ I really don’t want to lose any more weight.. a girl’s gotta keep some curves yeah?
OK la, I’m off to UTS to meet up with the other volunteers and I have to sleep early tonight because I have to wake up at 6am to make it to Neutral Bay very early morning before I head to work.
Can’t wait for D3. Need more distractions :P
