The main reason I went to Hawaii last week was to attend the wedding of my good friend Ron. An interesting thing was that I knew I wouldn't meet Ron's wife, Miho, until probably after the ceremony was over. Even though Ron, Miho, and I both live in Vancouver, I never met her in the three years they've been dating.
When I initially got word that the wedding was going to be in Hawaii, I immediately had thoughts of a beach-side wedding with a reception that would have guests gazing a brilliant ocean sunset as we dined on super fancy cheeseburgers. As it turned out, Miho wanted to get married in a church, miles away from any beach. The reception was to be held in a restaurant, though fancy, it was not next to the beach but certainly close to it. It puzzled me for a second but then I realized that some women dream about their weddings for many years and if they want to get married at a Star Wars convention in Arkansas, then that's what they should get.
I arrived in Honolulu on a Thursday night. The wedding ceremony was at noon on Saturday. The reception would be at 8pm the same night, followed by a buffet lunch at 12:30pm on Sunday. Thursday night was pretty chill as we had flown for about six hours. Friday was eventful, especially Friday night but that'll have to wait for another post.
On Saturday morning, I took a cab from my hotel to the church. I arrived early at 11:30am. I walked around the grounds a bit. It was a nice church on a somewhat big piece of land, with decent groundskeeping. John, the best man and my travel partner on this trip popped out of one of the side rooms and invited me in. Inside I saw Ron in his sparkling white tux. I think both of us shared some nervous chit-chat. Also there was the minister, who would be conducting the ceremony. Neither the bride and groom are remotely religious, so I found this part of the wedding a little odd. Again, it wasn't my wedding, so who was I to question it. Ron, John, the minister, and myself chatted for a few more minutes before it was time for me to find a seat outside. I wished Ron good luck and left the waiting room.
Inside the church I took a seat on the groom's side. There I met Ron's family for the first time. There were his parents Anna-Belle and Hank who graciously thanked me for coming all this way. Actually, those aren't their names but it'd be cool if you played along. I also met his sisters, one of which brought her husband along. I quickly learned his siblings were merciless when it came to poking fun at Ron, even his parents were like that and this was minutes before the ceremony.
Across the aisle were Miho's parents, Johan and Natasha. As you might guess, those aren't their real names but let's continue. There was also Miho's brother, his wife, and their two well-behaved daughters. Miho's cousin and some of her friends were there too.
As the church organist wound down her spiffy version of "Louie Louie", the minister took to the front and addressed the dearly beloved who had gathered here today. He told us how it was gonna all go down, when to sit, when to stand, and when to take pictures. He did so in English and then again in Japanese, which surprised me because he was a white dude. I would later find out that according to some of Japanese people, his Japanese wasn't so great. Shhhh... don't tell him that.
Then John and Ron emerged from their waiting room to take their place at the front. Also waiting at the front was Miho's maid of honour. Then the familar wedding march started. I looked back to see a flower girl. Behind her was Miho, looking lovely in her wedding dress, flanked by her father. As they made their way down the aisle I thought, "How is it that this is the first time I'm seeing Ron's soon-to-be wife?" The thought passed as I could see Miho weeping slightly.
When Miho joined Ron at the front, it became a pretty much standard ceremony at that point. The vows were not weird like you hear at some weddings. Though afterwards I did find out that the minister snuck in several religious references during the ceremony, even though Ron and Miho had specifically asked him not to do that.
The end of the ceremony was signalled by a kiss between the two newlyweds which was also the first time I've ever seen Ron kiss a girl. Deep within my mind I heard, "Ewww! Cooties!" Brushing aside the thought, I saw the lovely couple turn to us with a big smile.
After this, it was pictures galore. The wedding photographer that Ron and Miho hired seemed like a super cool guy. He was Japanese, a bit older and he had a pretty cool ponytail (as far as ponytails go). He appeared to be very good at his job and quite personable. I'm betting he has no trouble convincing young women to let him take naked photos of them.
By this time, the blazing heat of the beautiful day was taking a toll on everyone. Even though I looked completely awesome in my suit and newly purchased shirt and tie, it was quite uncomfortable to be in so much clothing. After a million pictures were taken, Ron and Miho took off in a limo took to get more pics take on the north shore. John then graciously called cabs to ferry everyone back to their hotels. Of course, our cab, the one that would take John and I back to our hotel, came 10 to 15 minutes after the last one left. By that time, I'd loosened my tie and unbuttoned a few buttons of my shirt which really made a difference.
The reception was fabulous but that'll have to wait for another post as it's getting late and I kinda want to watch another episode of Beauty and the Geek I downloaded.
I'd like to publicly thank Ron and Miho for inviting me to be a part of their wedding ceremony. I shall enjoy every single time that I tell your kids about it.
From both the BC Hydro web site and an e-mail from my manager, I have received word that power has been restored to the building that houses EA Black Box, meaning I can return to work on Thursday morning.
With the addition of these three extra days off, it's been quite the vacation for me. Going back to June 28, some 19 days ago, I've only worked one day in that span. I've had almost two-thirds of a month where I wasn't working which is pretty impressive given I only took seven days worth of vacation.
Now the flip side is that I'll probably have to make up some of these three lost days. It hasn't been officially mandated by management but I know we're on a tight schedule. I'm well aware of what work still needs to be done and I'm keen as ever to deliver the best game possible.
It's time to put my hard hat back on and grab my lunch pail.
It's just before midnight on Tuesday and today was another unscheduled day off from work because of the power outage in downtown Vancouver. Despite this, I spent a few hours with three of my co-workers. We played tennis downtown in the wonderful weather.
Though communication from managers has been sparse up to now, it kinda picked up tonight. I've been told via e-mail that I might have to report to EA Canada in Burnaby for Wednesday. This is sorta up in the air right now since the BC Hydro web site does say that our block is scheduled to have power back on sometime between 2:30am and 3am early Wednesday morning. If this is indeed the case, things should be back to normal for tomorrow.
The unfortunate thing is that people on my team all have varying levels of remote access. Most managers and producers have Blackberries which allow them to monitor and send e-mail anywhere. Nearly all the software engineers have full VPN access which allows us to check webmail. Between the artists and designers, it's a toss up. Some have full access like us, while others don't have any remote access of any sort. I know that managers have been resorting to old-fashioned phone calls for those people.
My prediction is that power will be restored to our studio in just a few hours and that we'll have a normal workday tomorrow. The morning will tell if I'm right about that prediction.
What you see above is a map representing the areas affected by the power outage caused by the electrical fire in downtown Vancouver today. This was supposed to be my first day back at work after my vacation and I was all prepared to approach it with great enthusiasm. Instead, I emerged from the underground Waterfront Skytrain station at 10am to find occupants of my office tower milling about outside. I was told that the power was out.
At the time, I did not know why the power had been cut. I lingered a bit to talk to some coworkers who wanted to know how my trip went. After a while, I proceeded south to get some breakfast. As I crossed Cordova St., I noticed a great amount of white smoke coming from the Harbour Centre area. After eating breakfast, I returned to my building to find the power was still off and that the latest news was power was to be restored at 4pm at the earliest.
By this time, people on my team were making plans to assemble at the various pubs and restaurants in the area. Some mentioned venues in the Coal Harbour area while other were headed to Yaletown. I eventually met up with a friend who recently lost his job and had lunch with him. After some milling about, it was close to 3pm and there was no sign that power would be restored soon. I headed home, returning a little bit before 4pm. I spent most of the day downtown but I didn't even have a chance to get to my desk.
As of this writing power has still not been restored to all areas affected today. In fact, if you check the BC Hydro web site, some areas are predicted to have repairs completed as late as 11pm, Wednesday, July 15, some 36 hours after the initial fire. If that is indeed true, I'll be unable to do anything at work, meaning I get another unscheduled day off. While this does sound good in theory, the reality is I have a lot of work to get back to after my week away.
I know crews are working around the clock to get things back to normal. It will be interesting to see what the morning brings!
As most of you already know, I have returned from my trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. Though it was my second time there, I found this trip to be just as fun and interesting, if not more than the first time.
I experienced a lot of blog-worthy things while I was there, which I will detail in separate posts in the days to come. If you're a blog writer, there's nothing quite like a trip to another to country to give you new material.
As a quick summary, I'll give you a few highlights. First and foremost, I was there to see my good friend Ron get married. The wedding went smoothly and was quite impressed at how both Ron and his lovely bride had everything planned out. Interestingly, I only met Ron's wife for the first time just minutes after the ceremony ended.
Much of my vacation had to do with eating good food. From the wedding banquet to some iconic US restaurants, there was no shortage of pleasant meals. I wouldn't be surprised if I came back a few pounds heavier.
This trip was also about many firsts for me. From my first time in an actual submarine to my first time in a helicopter, I quite enjoyed the sense of touristy-adventure, though I kinda at times longed for more extreme pursuits.
I have a few surprises in store as well but you'll just have to wait for those. Stay tuned.
