Global Game Jam 2017

5 months ago, if you had asked me how to make Space Invaders in Unity, I would have probably asked you what Unity was. However, within 5 months, I did actually end up making Space Invaders, worked on a 3D endless runner with little success, went to my first Full Indie Summit (and got excited about turning 19 so I could finally attend the regular meet ups!) but most importantly, met a group of amazing like-minded people from AMS Game Development Association (AGDA). 

I signed up for Global Game Jam with my friend from AGDA. We ended up bumping into one of our fellow club mates and another amazing artist to form a team. The day started out with the theme of the game jam being announced as “waves. Hence, we immediately got to work based on the idea of having waves of enemies attack a barista at Waves, our local coffee shop. 

The game was a 2D top-down shooter game. Despite the simplistic idea, there were still lots to include. Everything from implementing coffee machine turrets, the health packs, the coins, to the character and enemies’ movements- our 48 hours were eaten up in a blink of an eye. 

The best part was definitely how polished our final project turned out to be. Our artist was talent wrapped in a human body— we ended up with awesome graphics and the animations were spot on. I enjoyed being able to interact with the animations and audio options in Unity as I have been so used to keeping both of those to a minimal in my own little games. 

We stayed for the final presentations and ended up with the opportunity to demo ours as well. It was a gratifying experience being able to support and be supported by fellow game developers. 

All in all, Global Game Jam was nothing short of amazing and I'm glad I'm starting my year off right!

As always, catch you next time! :)

 

Check out our project submission here!

A temporarily hosted version of our game is here. (there are occasionally bugs in the WebGL version that don’t exist in our actual game, so apologies beforehand!) *Will update this link when we post the game somewhere cooler ;)

Watch our presentation here.

Hack the North 2016

If you read my previous post about Toronto, you would have known that I may or may not have skipped school this past weekend to go to Hack the North, Canada's largest hackathon. But if you haven't, then you should go read it here!

Skipping class on my second week of school was definitely nerve-racking, but how could I pass up a free trip to Toronto / Waterloo and the opportunity to attend a hackathon that I have heard nothing but amazing things about. Therefore, I made my way to Waterloo on Friday night, with my laptop fully charged, and prepared myself for 36 hours of hacking.

I met my team through Facebook and in hindsight, I am so glad we did! They are all from Waterloo and they are so so so nice. We all have the same kind of humour, so we all pretty much clicked the second we met. After spending 36 hours with them, we bonded so well as a team that we figured even if we didn't win, we won friendship. Haha, okay that's way to cheesy, but you know what I mean.

Prior to attending Hack the North, I thought nwHacks- which I attended in February was HUGE. However, this hackathon was at least twice that size, with a much larger (and in my opinion, more beautiful, but don't tell anyone I said that) building- E5 to work in and there was free food up for grabs all the time (pasta, beaver tails, ice cream, DIY cottoncandy, popcorn etc). Also, there were tons of booths with different sponsors to chat with throughout the night. There was also a photobooth and claw machine for free prizes! There was pretty much always something to do if you were taking a break- tech talks, demos, shirt painting stations and even air mattresses, blankets & showers! (I am not usually one to sleep on air mattresses, especially since I am a clean freak, but I was so tired I couldn't resist - they were very comfy). 

In addition to the neverending list of activities they offered, Waterloo also had lots to offer. My teammates showed me around the plaza, their residences, the little museum etc. We squeezed in some great walks & talks during our down time!

Okay, now let's move on to the actual hacking! Brainstorming and getting everyone to agree on an idea took us a very long time. Therefore, even when we finally agreed on creating a Pebble smartwatch app for tracking user location & converting restaurant currency to the user's desired currency, we already felt super behind in the whole hacking timeline. We were all so excited to do our first hardware hack together, but at the same time, things just weren't quite working out for us on the first night. Both our front end and backend were experiencing lots of trouble. We couldn't even get anything to display on the smartwatch by the end of the night. At that point, we all just silently agreed to give up on our hack, as things just weren't looking great. We slept through the night and I finally woke up at 7am.

I freaked out when I woke up because despite knowing that we probably couldn't finish our hack, deep down, I still really wanted to at least submit something. At that point, we had less than 2 hours before submissions were due. I woke everyone up and we all agreed to go all in during the last 2 hours. The second all of us plugged in our headphone, magic was created. It was crazy, we were all so well concentrated, and our brains just functioned so much better than the night before. The APIs (XE.com & zomato) were working seamlessly, our UI was working perfectly, and the backend connected everything & worked out without encountering too many problems. However, I must admit that we didn't actually finish everything at 9am, but we kept pushing and pushing. Since Devpost just happened to be experiencing technical difficulties, we managed to submit our project, right before the extended deadline. We then rushed to our demo and you could tell, we were all suppressing our nervousness while giving that talk. Thankfully, we had each other's back, and kept the whole presentation flowing. 

We walked out of the demo knowing that we tried our best and that was really all the mattered. We each exhaled a sigh of relief and headed to line up for food. While we were lining up, one of our teammates got a phone call from XE.com and was told that they had something for us. We literally screamed in the line. We knew we didn't get first place, but even an honourable mention would have made our day at that point. So we ran to their booth, where they told us we won second place for our use of XE.com's API! We were ecstatic! We then proceeded to take pictures, in which afterwards, they asked us if we wanted to pose with the drones that were going to be given out to the first place winners. We sensed something was up and suddenly, they told us that they were joking, and we actually won first place. We were screaming and jumping up and down. We looked around and we all knew how much we appreciated each other, and how grateful we were that we didn't give up and kept pushing through the project.

The sick drone we won after it surviving the ride from Waterloo to Vancouver!

The sick drone we won after it surviving the ride from Waterloo to Vancouver!

So to sum it up, Hack the North was a phenomenal experience where I met some of the best people ever & tons of like-minded computer geeks on the bus & plane. I also learnt how important a positive mindset is during hackathons because it might just be the one thing that leads you to your victory. Watch out, Hack the North 2017, I'm coming back for you!

Read more about Pubble here: http://devpost.com/software/pubble

Toronto

Hey everyone! I went to Hack the North at the University of Waterloo over the past weekend. Since I was missing school on Friday because of it anyway, I decided to just head to Toronto early, and do a little 24 hours in Toronto adventure with my best friend.

Travelling with my best friend over the past summer has really made me an expert at rushing and visiting tourist attractions in half the amount of time regular people do. However, I honestly don't mind it. I find more often than not, I prefer visiting and exploring more places, compared to visiting less spots, but stay at each for a longer duration. Therefore, here is everything I did in Toronto with 24 hours (3pm Thursday - 3pm Friday).

1 ) Took the Union Pearson Express from the Airport to check in at our hotel

2) Took the streetcar, train, GO train, GO bus & the taxi, all just to get to Niagara falls, the view was stunning and Clifton Hill is absolutely gorgeous at night

3) Went around Union Station for a little midnight adventure

4) Snatched pictures with the CN tower at night

5) Visited Nathan Phillips Square

6) Did a 2 hour Ryerson University Campus tour (My friend was interested in one of their programs)

7) Checked out Eaton Center

8) Walked all along Yonge-Dundas Square (THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL, I imagine New York's Time Square to be exactly like it <3)

9) Ate delicious sushi all you can eat at Spring Sushi @ Yonge-Dundas

10) Walked from Yonge-Dundas to the Art Gallery and then to Roy Thomson Hall, to check out the Toronto International Film Festival

11) Ate a cheesecake at Uncle Testu's!

12) Walked to China town, walked all around the area surrounding Dundas & Spadina

13) Got bubble tea, Arctic Bites (Creamy ice cream rolls) & Krispy Kreme

14) Went back to the Toronto airport & made my way to Waterloo (View my next post to read about my trip to Waterloo!)

That sums up my 24 hours there! I absolutely loved the 6ix- until we meet again, Toronto!

Alberta

I recently went to Alberta to visit my best friend who is currently working at the Fairmont Hotel @ Lake Louise. I jumped on the opportunity to not only see her, but also to be able to stay in such a stunning place for free, get around with discounts and wow, you're right. I was living a dream.

She called me one night and one thing led to another, I bought a plane ticket and I was on my way to the Calgary Airport. I am still in summer school so it was definitely difficult to maximize the amount of time that I could stay there for. However, we managed, and I ended up staying there for 4 days.

Getting around Lake Louise / the Banff area without a car is no easy task, so if you are planning on visiting and would like to take one advice from this post, BRING / RENT A CAR... or not and spend hours on the Brewster bus (but with my best friend around, those hours flew right by anyway). 

On my first day there, we hung out with her friends at the cabin and had some really nice talk. We then headed out to Field, B.C. for dinner at Truffle Pigs. Overall, the car ride there & dinner conversations set me up for a great stay ahead. After heading back to Lake Louise, we went out to the pub since not to brag or anything, but I am legal in Alberta. It was a great experience and I'm glad I shared my first legal pub night with my best friend.

On the second day, we decided to hike to Lake Annette and stay at the Paradise Valley Campground. Here is the fun part. It was pouring rain the day we decided to do that 6 hour hike, but not only that, because we did not have proper camping backpacks, we couldn't really fit anything into them other than our tent & sleeping bags. We were hiking in the rain without a spare change of clothes, socks and barely enough food (2 salmon bagels, 2 granola bars & 1 mars bar). We weren't even wearing enough layers to begin with because we completely underestimated the weather and the hiking time between Lake Annette and the actual campground. I even slipped on wet mud on our way there! There went my only hoodie keeping me warm!! The freezing cold night in our tents with barely any sleep showed our summer camping trip was not as perfect as we had imagined it would be after all. However, we made it back and I'm still alive, so I guess it was a hike for the books. Regardless, Lake Annette was drop dead gorgeous and the view from the mountains was worth every step there.

After spending the night in our tents freezing our toes off, we woke up early in the morning, hiked to the Giant Steps and quickly made our way down the mountain. We headed to Banff and went on the gondola, the hot springs, explored a bit and called it a night. I was so happy to be back sleeping in a nice warm room, I slept like a baby.

We woke up on my last day there at 5am to do a sunrise canoe at Lake Louise. It was again, freezing cold but the lake was just so beautiful, I was so speechless. We canoed around while playing music and chatting. Before we knew it, I witnessed the most beautiful sunrise in my life. We then hiked the Plain of Six Glaciers and it was unlike any hike I've ever seen or done. We walked along the ridge of the mountain and found ourselves in a sea of rocks. It felt like falling in love with nature all over again. The switchbacks eventually led to the teahouse and we indulged in some apple pound cake and lemonade.

Here I am back in Vancouver now, blogging and wishing I was in Lake Louise. There are so many trails I haven't been on yet and spending 4 days there simply was not enough. I promise I'll be back but before that, I'll go back to working on my Android App which is due for my summer course next week. How fun!

Korea

My trip to Korea was definitely a trip to remember. I went with my own family along with a couple of aunts and uncles, putting us at 8 people in total. Going anywhere with my family, aunts & uncles is super fun because everyone is so energetic and happy all the time. Therefore, going to Korea was no different. There was pretty much never a dull moment. But since we were only going there for 5 days, my aunt personally made us a super detailed itinerary accommodating where each and every single one of us wanted to go. We were out the door at 8am and got back to the hotel after 12am every night, but it was so worth it. The food in Korea was not only cheap, they’re delicious. Their desserts are also so cute, but what did I expect, it’s Korea! 

We visited the Alive Museum on the first day. We had loads of fun there, my aunts & uncles were laughing so loudly throughout the entire museum that I am surprised we did not get a noise complaint. It was a great picture taking spot and some of the stuff are actually really well designed, like the Alice in Wonderland part. 

We also visited a Hanbok Cafe where we dressed up, did our makeup and took pictures in the Korean traditional outfits. That was way more interesting than I expected, plus we got some great family pictures out of it. 

BUT READ THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO KOREA, the racoon cafe is WILD. There were dogs and a ton of racoons inside, it was insane. I love animals, I promise, but they were everywhere. The dogs would pull your shoes right off of your feet and run away with them, the walls had urine dripping down and a dog’s literally spat the biggest puddle of saliva down to the first floor from the second floor. Okay, all those things were actually true but it wasn’t as bad as I make it out to be I guess haha. It was a really great experience, and it definitely wasn’t the cafe’s fault that I felt a little overwhelmed, but this was probably my least favourite (sorry) place we went to. 

We also visited Lotte Mart and then went to a Sauna after. I have never been to a sauna before and it was just so cool! There were literally 6 or 7 floors in the Sauna place and every floor had something different. The hot & cold rooms were such a challenge, especially the ones at super extreme temperatures. But as usual, my family got a great laugh out of it. 

If you are visiting Korea as a family (and even if not), you need to check out Everland! It’s an amusement park, but it felt like so much more. There were actually a lot of different attractions you could look at, so many that you would have to take a little cable car to travel from area to area. There were rides like your typical amusement parks, but there was also a beautiful rose garden- we even went of a safari ride. Everland honestly had so much to offer, I really recommend it!

I won’t bore you by writing about every single place I visited but the last one, which was my favourite, is FRANK, a coffee shop on the outskirts of Seoul. This place served rainbow cakes, great lattes & Mendl’s Courtesan au Chocolat . Yes! Mendl’s Courtesan au Chocolat from the Grand Budapest Hotel. If you know me, you know I love Wes Anderson. I have had the biggest crush on all his work ever since I was in grade 8. Therefore, to be able to eat such a rare dessert that they made for his film was worth a trip to Korea on its own. It wasn’t just for looks though, the cream puff layers actually tasted so good, I bought two and brought one back to the hotel with me, and ate it as a midnight snack (oops haha). If you are also a huge Wes Anderson fan, you need to make a trip here ASAP. The pink Mendl’s box was also a great souvenir, for me, at least!

So that pretty much sums up my trip to Korea, it was Seoul fun. ;) I am glad I was able to visit there right before my internship started. It was the perfect trip. 

Hong Kong

It’s been forever since I last posted but I have an excuse- I have been working & travelling. I’m currently in Hong Kong, I went to Korea a couple of weeks ago which I’ll do a separate post about. Anyway, Hong Kong is still as beautiful as I last remember it. I’m glad not much has changed since I would have been really disappointed otherwise because afterall, Hong Kong is probably my favourite place, ever.

When the plane landed in Hong Kong, I was almost in tears. From the slightly polluted air (HAHA, I KNOW) to the beeping noises of Octopus Cards at 7-11, nostalgia followed me everywhere. Then, when we finally headed back to our home, things sure looked different. I was definitely shorter and smaller when I came back 3 years ago, either that, or my room shrank a lot over the years. 

But don’t you worry, nostalgia can’t drag me down. My sister, her boyfriend and I headed to Disneyland the second we put down our bags at home. This might sound ridiculous but we bought a yearly membership there. Although we would only be here for 3 months, we did the math and it was worth it (I have already been 5 times, so I guess we were right). 

Hong Kong Disneyland is a real beauty. A lot of people who visit there complain because the park is smaller compared to other ones across the world. However, as someone who grew up always having a yearly pass to Disney and lived almost right next to it, it’s hard to see any flaws in such a magical place. My favourite ride is still Space Mountain, it’s so pretty inside, you won’t even believe it (Well, I guess you would if you've been). The new ride Mystic Manor is also a must go, the backstory is adorable and the ride is to die for. I plan on returning at least twice more before I leave? So yup, money on that yearly pass was well spent. 

Ozone at the Ritz-Carlton

Ozone at the Ritz-Carlton

Besides Disneyland, I have also visited a ton of tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Just to list a few, the Hong Kong Observatory Wheel (Not as high as the High Roller in Las Vegas which I went on last year, but the view of Central is amazing), Hello Kitty Dim Sum (Everything there was so cute!), Mong Kok (Definitely one of my favourite places overall), Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car (Another must-visit for an amazing view) & the Big Buddha (<3). Another place I loved was Causeway Bay. It is stunning at night especially because I love love love lights in the night time, and Causeway Bay has just that. 

Infinity Pool at Discovery Bay

Infinity Pool at Discovery Bay

Anyway, I am about to head for lunch with my family. I hope you guys enjoyed the update and I’m so grateful to have such an amazing start to my Summer! I am excited to keep exploring Hong Kong. :)