BUSSES AROUND WELLINGTON

I have a confession to make: For the last for years I have lived in Wellington, I have avoided getting a bus for the fear that I’ll hop on only to find it is going on the right line but in the wrong direction, or on completely the wrong line.  I had visions of hopping on the bus and hoping to head to work but the bus suddenly turning onto the Motorway ‘first stop Porirua’...

Well, since starting work at Snapper this is hardly acceptable so I’ve forced myself to learn a bit about the bus system and I’ve learned a few interesting things.

Firstly and most important, Google has recently integrated public transport in New Zealand into Google Maps.  As a result you do not have to navigate Metlink’s awful website which displays things from the Bus’s perspective, neglecting to suggest you should walk 50 meters to a more suitable stop.

By putting things from my perspective, Google Maps allows me to say I want to go from say my current location to my home and will work out where I should walk to and when I should leave.  For someone like me that sees bus stops all over the place and has no idea which one I should wait at, being told exactly where and when to walk is perfect. Google will even tell me when it’s better for me to simply walk, and by giving the time of arrival will make it clear when I should catch a cab.

The other observation that I have made since starting to use busses is they all go the same route.  I’ve been looking for a good program to visualise the route information and make it clear but in written form, I’ve found every single Wellington bus goes from the railway station, along Lambton quay, down Hunter street and up Cuba street, then along Courtney place.  

This is perhaps not the fastest route from say Courtney place to the railway station but it means for someone new to the bus system they can look at what direction a bus is going and know instantly if it will take them to their inner-city destination.  For instance, if you work on upper Willis street and arrive at the railway station by train only to find it’s raining then absolutely any bus from the main platform (Platform C) will take you to lower Willis street.  

Now if only the busses would run on time it would be a trustable means of getting around!

ABOUT GO

I have been playing the game of Go since 2000. Over that time I have advanced to the level of three dan, which means I’m pretty good at the game for an amateur.

This game, also known as Weiqi in China and Baduk in Korea is an extremely old asian board game - a little similar to Chess.  The game is not well known in the west which is a shame.  Perhaps it takes too much dedication and patience to achieve a level of mastery where you enjoy it? Or perhaps western game players prefer games where you trick and crush your opponent to games that are more about mastery over yourself.

The game of go is fascinating for many reasons. It is a very Zen game, where your personal qualities and your current mood will significantly affect how you play. It is often quipped that a pro reading the game record of his students can tell when the tea lady entered the room. I doubt there is any other game where you can measure the how greedy, tolerant or flexible someone is just by watching them play.

Apart from playing, I enjoy studying and teaching the game, especially to New Zealanders. In the evenings I can often be found on the go serverKGS reviewing games. I also run the New Zealand go society website.

Computers are famous for how poorly they play go. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how this could be resolved, largely based around extremely careful heuristics for evaluating each position and almost no searching. While I have started writing a go playing program, it has not yet got beyond random moves.

Some Game Records

Andrew

Do Young

Jerry

Barry

Martin

My Interest in Cooking

I was taught to cook by my father, who was apparently taught to cook by a flatmate back when he was at university. I have enjoyed cooking and eating all my life. I remember the first meal I ever made without my parent's assistance was when I was eight and I couldn't decide what to make so I made a six course meal. I doubt any of the courses went together I imagine it would have taken hours, and it may well have been missing such things as dessert. Regardless, I think this gives some idea of my background.

I enjoy trying things, and use friends coming over as an excuse to try new recipes. My wife has been trying to wean me off recipes and has had some success. i won't now go down to the shop to buy Gruyere cheese when I'm already running late, just because the recipe calls for 50g. Having said that, I certainly haven't given up on cookbooks' completely, with a personal library that would be approaching one hundred. Certainly I am comfortable making absolutely anything from any cuisine, as long as I do not have to make it against the clock. It seems some people consider 10PM an unacceptable time to be served dinner.

What else? Taste wise, my favorite cuisine is French style, except that I replace the potatoes with rice. I am equally happy eating Asian food, but am not as good at making it quickly and well. For various reasons I am always underweight, so do not hesitate about eating a high-fat meal such as coq-au-van. One contributing reason may be that dessert does not interest me significantly, so that while I will eat it and appreciate a well made cake, I do not tend to make dessert myself. i am not vegetarian, although somebody observing my diet could possibly be fooled since I eat a lot of vegetables and red meat less than once a month.

As for recipes, well I don't often make up my own recipes, though I do often modify them. I guess it would be helpful to put some of my favorites up here. In the mean time, my current favorite recipe-book author is Julie Biuso, my most used cookbook is Le Cordon Bleu (from the cooking school). I may dislike Gordon Ramsay's personality, but it cannot be denied that he is a spectacularly talented chef, and I make use of a number of his books.

I enjoy going out to restaurants. My current favorite is Da Noi which does not have its own website (I wonder if they'd swap a meal for a website?) My favorite Dunedin restaurant is Bell Pepper Blues, one of the stalwarts of the Dunedin restaurant scene, but still going strong.  In Wellington my favourite is Citron, mainly because of the degustation approach.