The Case of Ocean Park and the Blah-Tastic Burger

Ok, so that is a bit of a stretch, since our visit to Ocean Park and the saga of the blah-tastic burger are two quite seperate things, but this way it sounds like a fantastic five adventure!

The last few days in Hong Kong have been very hard on my poor feet. Monday and Tuesday was spent slogging around the Hong Kong shops, and on Wednesday Mark and I made the trip down to Ocean Park, Hong Kong's long running theme park. Originally we had planned to go to DisneyLand, but frankly it just looked too damn lame, and it was a nice blast from the past to go back to Ocean Park.

We caught the MTR up to Admiralty, and then a bus to Ocean Park. The park is split up into two sections connected by a cable car, the highlands and lowlands. Unusually, we actually got dropped off at the Highlands, which is basically the back of the park. Normally, you would start in the low lands, and if you drove that is where you would park.


A big Budda from the Middle Kingdom

We had a quick stroll around the Middle Kingdom (a 'classy' recreation of ye olde china) and then went on a few rides. Started off with the Rampaging rapids, where Mark got absolutely soaked, and I escaped relatively dry and then went onto the Space Wheel, an old favorite of mine! The other rides in the Highland included a mine cart ride which was fricking scary, going out over the mountainside, the "Abyss" which was basically strapping you into a seat, taking you up 100 meters and then dropping you again, the "Dragon" which is the longest rollercoaster in Hong Kong (umm, not exactly a big claim!) and a few other smaller and lamer rides too. There was also a big aquarium called the Atoll Reef.


The amazing Space Wheel!


A picture from Atoll Reef

After awhile in the highlands, we grabbed the cable car and headed over to the underwhelming lowlands. We caught the park mascot Whiskers in a show, and then headed over to "the Amazing Bird Theatre", to watch some trained birds and shit. Or so we thought! We are sitting there waiting, and some chick comes out with two guys in big mascot suits, and has a little pantomime for the kids. Then some guys dressed as savages come out, do some dancing and some juggling, followed by some group dancing because now everyone is friends. And then it was over... WHERE THE HELL WERE THE AMAZING BIRDS?


A small boy being fed to Whiskers for giving us a great show

Ocean Park was great fun, and it was cool to go somewhere familiar (since obviously we used to go there a lot as kids). Mark and I even came back with tropheys, as we both reigned supreme on the throw-beanbags-at-ridiculously-well-spaced-stack-of-cans stall. I don't think the Carny folk were happy, they were shaking their tiny hands at us as we staggered away under the weight of our stuffed toys!

Hmmm.... I actually have to run out for the start of the rugby now, so the story of the Blah-tastic burger is going to have to wait!

Greetings from the Pearl of the Orient!

Well I am happy to report that Mark (my brother in law), my Dad and myself have all arrived safely in Hong Kong, the city where I was born.


Mark and I arrived fairly late on Sunday evening (made even later by the three hour time difference), and after staggering around the airport for a few minutes like slack-jawed yokels, we found our way to the Express train to Hong Kong station. Dad arrived later as he had flown business class on Virgin, although after going on about having his own private sleeper chair etc, he didn't even like it, as it left him feeling all boxed in. Looking at a photo of them, I'm not convinced I would like them either (please excuse me if the photos go all over the shop, I'm using dads iBook and Safari does not like the blogger website!)

So, we hit the hotel after a train and taxi ride (public transport rocks in HK, it leaves Sydney in the dust) and set out for something to eat. Determined to avoid the ever-present McDonalds, we roamed the Tin Hau streets without much luck, working on the principle that if they don't have english anywhere on the outside of their shop, they probably aren't going to have any inside either. Eventually we settled for what is basically HK Maccas, a Cafe de Coral. Even that was kind of bewildering, we ordered and were given tickets. Mine had a number, Marks didn't. He just had to go out and hand over his ticket for his meal, while I was waiting for them to call out a number... in cantonese. Luckily, a woman took pity on us (or were we just in the way?) and pointed out where we could find the english numbers up on a board. Thankfully, the food was very good, although to be fair that could have been proportionate to the fact
that we were very hungry!



The next morning, we set out to get phones and breakfast, and generally have a look around. We went to a Pret a Manger, which is essentially an english starbucks as far as I can tell. We grabbed some cheap pre-paid phone cards for keeping in touch and also calling home, and Dad point out a few places to go. He went off for lunch with some friends, and Mark and I headed out for (what we thought) would be a big day of man-shopping. We tried Pacific Place and Times Square (the former being a place I used to go as a kid for the cinema etc, the latter being something thats appeared in the last 13 years since I left). But unfortunately, no stuff was to be found! I was out to buy some new shirts etc, Mark wasn't looking for anything specifically but basically also needs clothes. Not surprisingly, most of the shops were for women, and those that were for men were a) in australia anyway and b) full of clothes which presumably are targetted at men of a different sexual persuasion than us. If you catch my drift.

We figured we would try and salvage the day, and head over to the dodgey computer place that Dad had mentioned, to pick up some new toys. So over we go to 555 Hennessy Road... which turns out to be a big department store, and not at all a seedy den of software sellers... we roamed around for a bit, but the general consensus was that Dad muffed the address! Turns out it was 298 that we needed (oh, so close its easy to understand why they were confused!)

So Monday was a bit of a bust, shopping wise, and in the evening we went out for dinner at the Hong Kong Football club with some old family friends, the Proberts.



Yesterday worked out much better. We went out with Dad again in the morning for breakfast, this time going down to Central for a roam about. Then Mark and I headed down to Stanley Markets (dwelling place of the fat american tourists, and clothing/knick-knack sellers) to try our hand at this "shopping" thing again. Much more successful this time around, although it was still difficult to find anything for myself! I ended up with a few tshirts, and some stuff to take home for Suzy. On our way back, we stopped off at central and went to the big Marks and Spencers, and I picked up a few new shirts, and we went to HMV and grabbed some CDs. The CDs ranged from about HK$80 to HK$170, with a 1:6 exchange rate to australian dollars, we both picked up a few CDs for around HK$100, so around half price to normal CDs, and not even illegal or nuffin!

Footsore and hungry, we headed back to the hotel and picked up some snacks. I had a packet of delicious and suspiciously familiar "Fonzies", and had to pick up another packet of Bumerangs for that taste from home... mmmm.... bum-tastic!





Yesterday evening, we had to get all dressed up to go to the Hong Kong Club Rugby Dinner. I'm just not sure what to say about the Hong Kong Club... I know that it means a lot to my dad, and all of his croneys are members, but I just can't bring myself to sum up a whole lot of enthusiasm for it. I honestly cannot ever see myself with the inclination to join this kind of club, but at least in its favor they allow women in there now! Something which it is embarassing to say wasn't really true of the place 13 years ago when I went a few times with the parents. Back then, it was only at certain times or events where the whole family was allowed in, the rest of the time it was men only.



Anyway, dinner was nice, the speakers were absolutely terrible (a BBC rugby commentator who just got up and told old jokes at the expense of the English, never actually gave a speech at all, and an ex-wallabies coach who started well but just kind of dissolved into fractured rambling about the technical side of the sport). Mark and I basically just kept to ourselves, as we just didn't have much common ground to talk to the others there, and after dinner we headed back to bed leaving Dad to hang out with his mates.

OK, I think that is more than enough for today! Mark and I are off to Ocean Park (think seaworld/dreamworld combo) since we decided that Disneyland looked too kiddy and I know Ocean Park will be good.

I'll take my camera along, and post some pics of the place when I get a chance!

Off I go!

Hmmm, no posts since last tuesday, that's no good! (The beautiful picture of the Hoff doesn't really count).

With a combination of stuff to do at work, preparations for going to Hong Kong (I leave in about an hour for the airport) and generally being a bit lazy, posting for my non-readers has fallen by the wayside.

I promise some posts with pictures from the pearl of the orient to compensate!

Bon Voyage!

To be sure, to be sure...

Nerdgasm II: The Spore-Gasm...

Ok, normally I tried not to overexcite myself when it comes to new games being released. I am a bit of a computer game junkie, not as bad as I used to be, but sometimes a new bit of technology, or a really cool concept comes along, and I am left impatiently counting the days until it is released.

Today, I heard accidentally about a new game from the creator of SimCity and the Sims, called "Spore". It is possibly the most ambitious project since Project Ego (which eventually became Fable, and delivered on a surprising number of its original promises).

The basic concept is that you start with the primordial soup, controlling a single bacteria (or whatever, very small creature anyway) eating away at other microbes, avoiding things that are bigger than you and laying eggs to bring out the new generation. Each generation, you can "edit" or "evolve" your creature, to make it faster, meaner, bigger or smarter. Eventually, you move up from being in a bit of slime, to being a little swimmer in the ocean.

The process continues, and eventually you make it out on to land. In the demo video, he put together a creepy little three legged thingy with a hand on the end of its scorpion tail. But he went on to show other examples, such as a giant headed bird thing with a dozen beaks whos head had to tilt when he turned corners, or a dog-ish thing with a load of branching limbs.


Your creatures keep getting smarter, and eventually they become "sentient". At this point, it ceases being a physical evolution, and instead becomes a cultural one, with the creatures grouping into a tribe, and other tribes developing alongside them. Eventually you can take over the whole planet, and expand outwards into the stars and eventually the galaxy.

The sheer scope of the project is stunning, the way he kept zooming outwards from the swamp to the planet to the solar system to a large sector of space to the entire galaxy. Obviously, it would be totally impossible for any group of people to sit down and program every possible movement, every tree and creature. Instead, they use a process called "Procedural Generation".
That essentially means that rather than working out every possible bone/limb structure and programming in how each should move, instead they have algorithms to work out how each creature should be based on its structure. And the end result is smoothly walking creatures with three limbs or thirteen... the same goes for the other interactions, such as creating new planets within the solar system etc. Basically, it means that instead of an essentially infinite amount of content for them to program, they work on some really good AI routines to do the work for them on the fly.

The same goes for the rest of the eco-system (and other planets etc). Rather than program it all in themselves, or even randomly generate it, what they do is download and upload from other players to flesh out the worlds. So again they cut down on their own workload by laying the foundation and letting the details fill themselves in.

Anyway, thats enough gushing. Needless to say, I am pretty stoked about the concept, and I am looking forward to see how much of this grand plan makes it into production (with the 'Sims' empire behind them, I can't doubt that it will get made, from the demo video it seems pretty far advanced already). Of course the next problem is... what kind of mutant beast of a computer are we going to need to run it?!?

I just had a Nerdgasm...

As part of the ongoing saga which is preparing ourselves to move to a new home, I have been "encouraged" to go through my wardrobe and throw out anything:

a) too shabby; or
b) too old; or
c) too lame to be seen while wearing

Needless to say, my new "improved" wardrobe is almost non-existant. All my precious precious faded, bleach-stained, moth-eaten t-shirts are gone, and a few of my old off-colour, too short hawaiian shirts to boot. I kept a few old favorites as a small act of rebellion (for sleeping in basically), but realistically speaking I am now in desperate need of new clothes.

I honestly can't remember the last time I went clothes shopping. Oh wait, yes I can... never! I pick something up now and then obviously, and people buy things for me as gifts, but I have never actually ventured forth, of my own volition (being taken shopping as a kid doesn't count!), with the sole aim of purchasing clothing.

Which brings us on to the title of this post, and how I ended up having a 'gasm, nerd or otherwise. I have a few t-shirts which I bought from Homestarrunner.com a while ago, which worked out pretty well. They have kept well, they are tasteful enough that people don't question them and every now and then someone recognises one which is always neat. This has left me to thinking, why go out and buy clothes, when I can just have them sent to me? It will definitely work for t-shirts, and if I feel really daring I could try it with other clothes too!

So casting my net out for possible online shirt sellers, I come across ThinkGeek.com. I had seen their shop previously, as they act as the online store for PvP and Penny Arcade, two of the webcomics that I read.

So... much... nerdy... crap. I am not even sure where to start at this shop, it is all so freaking cool. Of course, we have a selection of nerd-tastic t-shirts... but then we get into the nerdy toys... *drool*

Who wouldn't want a set of curiously strong magnets? (Relatively) Giant 3-eyed sea monkeys? Smoke Ring Guns? Bottle opener ring?


My favourite has to be the Butterfly Living-room R/C Flyer... a lightweight remote control plane for use in your livingroom. Of course, were I actually to buy something like this, I would crash it into a wall on the maiden voyage, and that would be that... maybe I should go for the R/C Blimp instead? Probably more appropriate for my level of hand/eye coordination!

It's Wonka-vision!

"9 deaths, 2 suicides, 1 acid freak out, 1 transvestite, 2 nazis and 1 b-boy dance off"

Suzy and I went to see Wonka! A Live Cinema Remix last night at 'Lanfranchis Memorial Discotheque' in Surry Hills. We originally heard about it via an SMH Article, and decided it was worth a look.

We are glad we did, it was absolutely hilarious. They had an edited version of the film up on screen, with a team of them doing all of the voices and sound effects live. The story was changed needless to say, with Wilhelm Von Wonkinstien a LSD addicted Nazi living in a factory full of doped midgets, who has lured the Princess of Poland to his factory. Verucca Salt was actually the cross-dressing head of British Secret Service, who infiltrated the factory with Winston Churchill.

Most of it was very funny, if a little random, the plot was obviously pretty loose and it was all about the jokes. They did an awesome job, and well worth the $10 admission. I think it is on again tonight and Saturday, so if anyone is in the Sydney area with nothing to do, I can't recommend this highly enough.

In a similar vein, I have also stumbled across the preview for a new movie, "Brokeback to the Future". Check it out, looks like it is going to be a great film! (You need to have Quicktime installed to watch it, or even better, Quicktime Alternative!)

EDIT: Apparently this idea of creating spoof trailers of Brokeback Mountain hybrids with other famous movies is quite widespread, I have no idea if Brokeback to the Future was the first of them or not. Here is another one, this time based around Star Wars (not as good, but still funny)

Mmm... Pancakes...

Happy Shrove Tuesday everyone (retrospectively of course), that most random of Holidays for all non-catholics, which marks a perfectly good excuse to eat pancakes for dinner! The link is for the Shrove tuesday wiki entry... I like the sound of Fat Tuesday better, or best of all the Icelandic version Sprengidagur (Bursting Day). Although Pancakes > Salted Meat and Peas any day!

Normally I look forward to Shrove tuesday for months, and then forget all about it on the day. A bit like Daisy from the Great Gatsby, except I'm prettier and Suzy doesn't smuggle booze for a living (at least... I don't think she does!)

Luckily, Suzy was to the rescue and announced that dinner would be pancakes and bacon. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have the final component (maple syrup) for a canadian breakfast, so instead I settled for lemon juice and sugar. Suzy had lemon juice and cheese on her pancakes... THE HORROR!

Here is an action shot of her being all domestic and junk. She flips a fine 'cake, much better than I usually manage (mine always end up all mangled, I can never get the flip far enough under the pancake without ruining it... I would probably do better on a hot-plate rather than a pan).

In other news, we saw a few real estate agents over the weekend, and lets just say the first one seemed fine until the second one turned up and showed us how it should be done. I didn't mind the first guy, from a Callagher, a small local firm, although lets say I wasn't surprised when he revealed that he used to work in marketing. He had a look around, gave us what he felt was a reasonably price range for advertising and was generally pretty cadgey on specific cost details etc.

The second agent, a woman from McGrath, a much larger sydney network of real estates, was much more impressive. She was ready to talk turkey, gave us some advice on the differences between auctions and private treaty and generally gave the impression of being both more organised and ready to commit to costs and times etc.

To cap it off, we now find out why the original guy never followed up with us, he is on holiday this week... you would think that was worth mentioning to the people trying to give you a big pot of money. Ah well!

We are looking at a early to mid-april kick off for the sale right now, that gives us a chance to get the place in order once I get back from Hong Kong and get all the marketing etc sorted out.