Still Alive

Much has happened of late. Mainly trouble.

Will have updates when I am finally out of slavery on 24 July 2009.

Till then things will be very quiet around here.

Belated X'mas and Happy New Year

Time cannot be spent better during the holiday season other than meeting old friends and spending quality time partying and meeting new people. Yeah, well most people might just think I am some nerd staring at my monitor and eating potato chips while pretending to be some perverted ass hole peeping through his camera at some model related events. Duh...

Time spending with old pals are really priceless. Some of them I have not met in ages. Especially those studying overseas.

X'mas is kind of budget this year. I ended up giving most of my relatives hand phone straps from Latendo. Same goes for my friends who actually received them since I do not have enough to go round.

As for the New Year, I ended up getting squashed while attempting to catch some fireworks by the Esplanade or what we locals prefer calling "thedurian" thanks to all those spikes on the structure. Went out with some old school friends for the occasion.


New Year's Resolution

Peaceful ORD in July.
Find a University (preferably of UK or Canadian origin) to further my studies.
Learn Japanese (because of the below situation).
Regular gym visits.
More time to do quality blogging instead of rush work.


During my absence, I managed to meet up with some Japanese high school students. Got to thanks Tien Yeh for this opportunity.

A couple of my folks and I managed to spend an entire day with them. Did not get a picture to remember the occasion since my camera is kind of out of battery.

Namely Kanji and Misuki. Think I got the romanji wrong. We brought them down Orchard Road and down to Plaza Singapura for a movie. Ended up watching Sky Crawlers since their English knowledge is quite minimal so its best to watch something in Japanese. They understand English, but you just need to speak to them slowly.

While spending time with them, I found that there are many difference between their daily lives and ours. Most interestingly, hand phones are really important to them since they send E-mails, shopping, pay their bills and tones of other stuff with them.

I just wished that the organizers kept to their promise of two girls instead of changing to guys at the eleventh hour.

Next group is in the 18th January.

MERRY X'MAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!

Anime Festival Asia 2008

Right long break since I last posted my last update and article. Office has been hellish of late and my latest addiction to Combat Arms is not helping much. In fact, its eating into precious time. Not to mention Call of Duty: World at War or rather to simplify matters, COD5. And Atlantica Online.

It has been quite sometime since I indulge in something otakuish till last week when I went on a spending spree. Pre-orders for Linage II Human Mage/Mystic, Hatsune Miku (2nd release), Shana Nendoroid (I am so going to bring to office) and finally Opai Mousepad (Rosario Vampire's Moka).

Totsl Damage SGD$223. This is without considering the amount I paid to reserve the product.

Fortunately, the orders came in before the sudden spike in the Japanese Yen so the prices are still pretty much the same other than the Mousepad which managed to burn a huge hole in my pocket. With the sudden economy downturn, I also had to take out time to start analyzing the market. Well if there is opportunities, it just gives me the incentives to start changing my investment plans.

For AFA08, the event is pretty much the normal regular Japanese Anime event. The only plus point is there are "tones of common, a few uncommon and limited rares" out for sale (and at really low prices). Ended up splurging on more products although my pocket is already pretty much empty.

Its rather kind for the organizers to invite May'N to Singapore for her first overseas concert. However, I feel she and the fans definitely deserve better. There were many flaws here and there with how the concert was done and the overall setups.

The biggest blooper being "Windows Media 10" was actually used to play the music.

Not much photos for this event. Some really funny ones like the Toilet being the Emergency Exit. It gives people the idea that if you want a quick way out, you just need to sit on the toilet bowl and press the flush lever to launch yourself out of the building.

MANGE KISSa: Japanese Style Comic Cafe

While paying a visit KKnM last week, I came across this interesting outlet where the old LAN shops used to occupy.

Unlike the other comic rental shops in Singapore which carries only local or Taiwan comics, COMIC KISSa also have Japanese comics on their shelves. In fact, the number of Japanese comics are roughly 50% or more of their current manga on display. Other than manga, the outlet also carries various Japanese magazines which can only be purchased at Kinokuniya (at a high price). Not to mention the weekly jump magazines for those impatient otakus.

Other than publications, there are also Play Station 3s for rent. Most of the games are Japanese though. There are also massage chairs for those who gets stiff shoulders from continuous reading. Lastly, there is also Internet services should you need to do a quick check.

Open:
Sun - Thu 11am-11pm
Fri - Sat (PHeve) 11am-2am
Address: 40 Prinsep Street
#01 S188666
e-mail: info@comiccaffe.com.sg
Website: www.comiccafe.com.sg (Japanese)

You will need to register as a member to use their services. Registration for membership is free. Just pay for the services =)

An update on subjects happening on my end over the week (which totally pwned me).

1. I just screwed up my desktop AGAIN after a failed installation of a new graphic card.
2. I found that my processor chip fan broken after opening the CPU.
   
3. I screwed up my in camp duty.
4. I just got myself jabbed twice on Friday at the hospital because the nurse could not find my veins which contracted during the injection.
   
5. I just got infected by rashes AGAIN, and I believe I NEED the doctor before it gets worst. I had it since Wednesday if I am not mistaken it for mosquito bites.

But other than those nightmares above, I still managed to find time to catch up with the anime releases. Other than Gundam 00 which has managed to built up wnough hype for me not to miss it, Toradora also managed to make a mark. I almost had a brain melt down thanks to the amount of loli content it offered. Tales of the Abyss is also passable with Tear saying "Kawaii" quite a few times on episode two. However, two anime seem to stand out from the pack are Kurozuka and Kuroshit Suji.

Kurozuka has a rather interesting plot revolving a undead woman in feudal Japan. A serious anime without doubt. Kuroshit Suji on the other hand has a rather dark plot which reminds me of Death Note. There are a few plots which are hilarious. A shark opposite from Kurozuka.

Games Convention Asia: the Bloopers

Well unless we are all called R2-D1 and R2-D2, there are bound to have flaws here and there. Some can be destructive like Ferrari's infamous Singapore Grand Pix self-destruction on the pits, while others can be casual mistakes where no one cares about.

Err... Where is she going?


Lemme scratch my hair before the next shot.


The flashes... they are too bright (and many)


Seriously, I have no idea what she was trying to do.


Hair adjustments or face adjustments.


Maybe there is a Sith in this part of the galaxy after all.

Run-So-High

The Japanese community in Singapore is not as small as most people would assume. Its rather huge to begin with. Once a toddler who schooled in a Japanese populated pre-school, I knew how enormous the local Japanese community is in Singapore. That pre-school was at YMCA along Stevens Road.

That was not the only area where Japanese would send their children for education in a foreign land like Singapore. West Coast area is also filled with many Japanese affiliated schools. From kindergartens to a senior high school, Waseda Shibuya Senior High School. In fact (according to the school) they are the only Japanese senior high school in the region.

Unlike local schools or other international schools I have visited, Waseda Shibuya Senior High School do not have the luxury of space. In fact, I would best describe the school as rather cosy. Their facilities are much better as compared to local government schools though their land is rather pathetic.

Food wise, students are cramped into one huge cookhouse for their meals. When I visited, they served a variety of delicacy. With the GCA going on for 2 days in a role for me, I just found myself hard to be punctual on that Sunday. To make things worst, I lost my way there. In the end, I had only curry rice for breakfast and lunch.

Alright pictures...

One of the more popular attractions at the open houses.

I dare say the students put in tones of effort to make this a success. Just look at the details of their props. Japanese are dead good at horror. I remembered how freaked out by the movie Jun-on. Unfortunately, since I am late (and impatient), I missed out on this attraction. I will definitely make a point to be there early next year.

Due to the fact that the school has some regulations on posting up pictures, I will only post up those whom I have deemed as "likely to be safe for public viewing/sharing" and if there are any issues with the sensitivity of the pictures, they will be removed immediately.

Games Convention Asia: Aftermath

The gaming industry has been changing rapidly since Counter Strike which created the LAN gaming phenomenon. Yesterday, gamers have to meet up at the video game arcade or the LAN shop to actually find an opponent to play with. Today with the internet, games can find a challenge anywhere on cyber space in the luxury of their homes. Due to this improvement of technology, we now have the genres like MMORPG, MMOFPS etc...

Much of these new genre generates revenue by offering in game premiums or subscription. Often payable through mediums like credit/debit cards. However, cards are not easily accessible to schooling teens which are a potential customer base for these games.

The solution?

Cherry Credits scratch cards. Payment from prepaid scratch cards are not a new invention. Various games like WOW, GE and Maple Story share the same payment method. However, what made Cherry Credits unique is their credits can be used on various games if the game publishers are willing to accept their mod of payment.

Games Convention Asia or GCA for short is an event where companies like Cherry Credits together with the bigger boys like EA and Sony would showcase their wares. But other than the business atmosphere the convention has created, games and models are still pretty high on the agenda.

As compared to the quality of the models at WCG, GCA seems to be lacking in quality. At first, I thought that the F1 night race happening this week was the cause of the drop in quality models. I was partially right till I found out that a Car Show was held concurrently with GCA at Singapore Expo. The models present were bad enough for Panther to start labelling them loli.

There are quite a few new games on the consoles. Wii had a new Starwars fighting game "Starswars: the Force Unleashed" where players can start waving their controllers like lightsabers to perform attacks. The local 501st Legion at GCA to witness the game first hand.

501st and a Jedi?

On the MMO stable, there are many games like meat on display at the bucher's store. From the cute Angels Online to the gory Black Shot.

Not to mention the highly anticipated Red Alert 3. Since EA's take over of Westwood Studios which were the orginators of the C&C brand, the gameplay value has fallen significatly. Fortunately, most gamers prefer to be wowed by beautiful graphics in favor. I am still put my bucks down in favor of Dawn of War 2 and World in Conflict: Soviet Assault.

Red Alert 3 Trailer

Microsoft's Xbox seems to be rather quiet this convention. Though they have several pretty games out on demo, they were unable to create a deep impression.

Panther and the Nut - Epic Moments (Soul Calibur 4)

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

Episode 3:

Episode 4:

Yes, the conclusion is Panther got pwned by the nut badly on Saturday.

SC4 tournment winners

There is another Cosplay event held in conjunction with GCA. As usual, I saw the folks from KuraiDori. This time, Ace decides to play Lelouch while Noriko cosplayed as C.C. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos of them. My apologies.

Some candid shots:

If only there was a game called women-poly

The return of Darth Ah Mah

Move out marines