UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT B A START

Back in the day my bro and I would spend hours and hours playing on the Nintendo Famicom. There would be nothing more fun than getting a group of friends together and having a bash at Contra, Street Fighter, and many frustratingly difficult games. The satisfaction of completing one of them though, was the greatest reward.

This was also the last time a Mortal Kombat game really excited me. MK1 and MK2 were good. MK3 however, just absorbed me and most of my pocket money completely. We longed to go visit the Arcade (45min away) just to see glorious Fatalities being executed and to verse the pro players that waited for new victims. I tended to avoid the next few Mortal Kombats as their ratings were despicable. I meant why convert a perfect 2D fighter into a sidestepping Tekken clone. I mean was Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe even necessary?

I have never felt that kinda rush and thrill playing a game with friends over until last Friday. We played Mortal Kombat 9. Easy to pick up, bloody(excuse the pun) difficult to master. Every character played like MK3 but rendered in beautiful 1080p with bone crunching bass. This is the Mortal Kombat I have been waiting for.

The story line introduces most of the characters from MK1 to MK3 and gives the player a taste of the rich MK universe but does not lose itself in the plot holes from the previous games. All the greatest characters are there, including some like Stryker who I really dont like(He has a gun... umm yeah riiight)

The gameplay returned to the classic 2D fighting with an addition of high damage output X-Ray moves that can be used when your Power meter is full, much like the Supers in Street Fighter and Marvel Vs Capcom.

We played for 6 hours straight and players ranged from novice to pro. Halfway through the night, we were all pretty decent, and fights were a lot more satisfying.

Xbox Live adds a high replay-ability value with ranked and casual match-ups. The Challenge tower has TONS of levels to get through with lots of fun scenarios, some include zombies!

I'm currently making my way through the story mode and learning to utilize more intelligent Kombos and special attacks.

Looking forward to owning in the next games night! :)

Game of Thrones: The Board Game

Escapist TV series, movies and games have become more prominent and sought after. Fantasy epics, sci-fi voyages and post-apocalyptic futures are more and more prevalent in popular culture today.

This puts me in my happy place. I can't get enough of The Walking Dead, MARVEL & DC movies, etc etc.
The only sucky part is that once a season or movie is done you are left and empty and dead inside. OK I am exaggerating but when Game of Thrones season 2 ended, I quickly grabbed an onion and began chopping.

When a friend of mine mentioned that he bought the Game of Thrones board game: instant NERDGASM :O
We arranged a meet, got together some friends and gave it a go. Westeros here i come!

Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)

We were glad that Matthew (said friend) played a couple of games before ours. The rule book is 32 pages long and quite involved and complex. There's approximately 100 little bits and bobs that make up the game. I have never played Risk, or Settlers of Catan before so I was proper n00b and by the time you finish this you will understand why I still am.

The playing area AKA Battlefield

It took about 1.5 hours to learn how to play and then another 3 hours and we had to call it quits for it was a work night. Why so long? Well the rules for one are quite expansive. There isn't a dice in this game. There are many factors that influence the outcome including my favourite: Backstabbing!

Don't you dare expect me to go through the rules in detail 'cos quite frankly I'm not too sure about them myself. Basically, you play as one of the houses in the series; Stark, Targaryen, Lannister, Greyjoy, Baratheon, Martell, and Barnaby. Seriously if you thought that last one was one of the houses please go watch the series or read the books and leave this blog now! There is one winning condition and 2 sub conditions if there's ties. He/she who controls the most castles and strongholds wins, followed by most strongholds and finally most supply.  

Once you choose your house you get to place units in your designated areas and and then give them orders; Support, Defend, Move Out or Raid. Depending on who has the Iron Throne sigil (Baratheon to begin with), the order of play is decided. Randomness enters with 3 cards being revealed at the start of each turn. These can be dire game changers.

View of the playing field from above

Sometimes Wildlings attack! Other times supplies are depleted! Armies are mustered, battles are fought, lands are sieged! There is so much to this game that this post is an injustice. You have to experience it for yourself at least 3 times... before you get the actual hang of it :)

All in all a really enjoyable experience. Just make sure you allocate enough time to learn and then some more to play. Once you get the rhythm going it  makes for truly enjoyable escapist experience.

I can't wait till I'm good enough to actually start playing good strategies and employ confuzzling mind games with the other players.

I leave you with these great words by my favourite character Tyrion Lannister: 

"The Lord of Light wants his enemies burnt. The Drowned God wants his enemies drowned. Why are all the gods such vicious c-nts? Where is the god of t-ts and wine?"

My new website! www.sanvir.co.za

Good news everyone! Just released my website today. Really excited about it. You can find out a bit more about me and see what I look like.

Please check out www.sanvir.co.za and let me know what you think!

A Weekend at Stellies

Part of my morning ritual now includes checking up on all the latest group-buying deals available. Thanks to a couple of gmail rules im able to aggregate them quite comfortably into a label: Deals. Its bright red and it beckons me every morning. Tempting me to indulge in goods and services I would never look at twice had they not carried the tag "x% off!". If x hundred people have bought this artificially intelligent toaster that even makes your bed in the morning, surely I am definitely missing out if I don't!

Am I missing any sites? PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!

I resist it most days but sometimes there comes a deal just too good not take advantage of. Which brings me to my great weekend escape to Stellies.

I saw a deal for an night stay for 2 to Alluvia Wine Estate. I needed a bit of a breather from the humdrum of work life but couldn't afford to take too many days off or travel too far. Alluvia just 45min away from Cape Town would be the perfect bit of respite.

Despite escaping work a little earlier than usual, the traffic was abysmal. It didn't help that we had chosen a dreary, rainy Friday either. Alas, we endured and were welcomed to a homely and thankfully warm little cottage in the heart of wine country.

Oakleaf bathroom

Oakleaf bedroom

To add to the wonderful atmosphere we discovered 2 bottles of wine; white and red, and a little pitcher of sherry with nougat on the side. But we all know how disastrous having a drink on an empty stomach can be. We sought sustenance at Stellenbosch central. We had heard about the famous Tannie Tandoorie pizza at Sgt Pepper and wow it did not disappoint! Wafer-thin base, cream cheese and spiced morsels of chicken nomnomnom. There was something really strange about my Hunters Dry though... it tasted uhmm "flat" or "stale"..

Tannie Tandoorie pizza

The problem with only being in Stellies for the night is that there's so much to try but so little time. But there's ALWAYS time for desert! 15 steps away from Sgt Pepper we found a busy but relaxed Manouche. Had some delicious cheesecake and cappuccino.

The next day we rose early and as promised by Alluvia a full continental breakfast consisting of muesli, dried fruit, yogurt, muffins, croissants, and fresh orange juice was waiting for us packed neatly in a picnic basket outside the door.

With the promise of returning in the summer we left Alluvia, hail and hearty, to explore the winelands. Funneh story: I was awoken by the roar of engine revving too high and too long. Peering sneakily outside I saw that our neighbours, in their ahem happy state the previous night, parked at a precarious angle along a steep bank. Couldn't help but chuckle to myself as the wife cheered the husband on as he held on to dear life as he was being towed out by a 4x4.

I consulted a wine-expert friend of mine and she recommended we try out Chocolate and Wine Tasting at Bilton. I had never done it before nor had Meesh. Adventure was out there!


We made our way there slowly hoping the GPS wouldn't have us tasting anything less. As we entered Bilton the horrible weather outside evaporated instantly as we were greeted by a roaring fireplace, smiling wine hostesses and a cosy confine.

Bilton restaurant

Bilton fireplace

I'm sure you have heard of cheese and wine pairing but really have you heard of choc and wine tasting before. Now it may have just been the result of wine tasting, but there came a point when i truly believed that the chocolate enhanced the flavour of the wine. My favourite combo is the Shiraz 2008 and Cape Malay chocolate. I bought one of each and will be hosting a wine and choc pairing evening at my place. Tickets cost R30. JK  For you... just R25. :P

Choc and wine pairing

We relaxed at bilton for about 2 hours, until our tummys started rumbling again. There were some locals there and we trusted their late lunch recommendation. We headed to De Volkskombuis. To be honest, the decor looked a bit drab and dreary, but that couldve just been the miserable weather outside coupled with the growing hole in my belly.

I tried the sample of 3 cape malay dishes: Homemade chicken pie, lamskerrie, and bobotie. I was pleasantly surprised that despite the appearance of the portions I was propvol (reeally full).

Last cappuccino for the road and we head home.

Stellies really feels like 1000s of kms away and I highly recommend it as a weekend escape, or even a nights retreat. I can't wait for the next groupon that allows me a repeat trip!

what devs do for fun

here u see a few of my software developer friends dominating the foosball table at old mutual. the competition is fierce! lost twice to the girls.. i shall redeem myself tomorrow!

So it begins...

Gotta thank Bianca Mayer mymindmapped.blogspot.com for encouraging me to start my own blog! Think its high time that I start keeping notes... my long term memory is terrible. This will not follow any chronological order. I will be rambling on about things that may seem mundane to you and maybe even to me, but this is the internet and i can do whatever i want... just look at those uncapitalized I's.

I may not have done much in my life but i know enough tricks of the English language to make stuff sound exciting! Exciting is what I aim to be... so watch this space for 1min without blinking then look at a white wall and you might see something amazing.

Ciao for now!